Bacuag Municipal Gym, Bacuag, SDN
July 13, 2011, 3:00 PM
(Flash Version)
State of the Municipality Address of Mayor Sheila Mae O. Cebedo
STATE OF THE MUNICIPALITY ADDRESS
of
MAYOR SHEILA MAE O. CEBEDO
Bacuag Municipal Gym, Bacuag, SDN
July 13, 2011, 3:00 PM
Vice Mayor Columbano Manliguis Jr., Members of the Sangguniang Bayan, Barangay Captains, School Administrators, National, Provincial and Municipal Employees, Representatives of the Civil Society Organizations, guests, ladies and gentlemen good afternoon.I thank the Sangguniang Bayan headed by Vice Mayor Manliguis for giving me this opportunity to report to our people, the accomplishment of my administration.
Let me start my report by revisiting the promise I made to the people of Bacuag when I first became a mayor of this municipality. I remember I laid out my 5-point development agenda namely; economic growth, poverty reduction, peace and order, environmental management and education. I promised to focus all our efforts, our resources and our capabilities to make a difference along these development areas. My slogan then was “serbisyong totoo” because it is what my heart and my mind dictates me to do for the love of Bacuag and the Bacuaganons.
Now on my second term of office, how far have we gone in fulfilling that promise?
First on economic development, we had put in place the necessary infrastructure to support economic development such as roads, market and bridges.
We continuously improve our roads. Roads play a very significant role not only in connecting us from one location to another. They also help us bring our goods and services closer to our constituents, thus providing access to development. To date, 1,560.65 meters of our municipal streets in Brgy. Poblacion have been concreted to improve accessibility and convenience. This amounts to Php13,150,000.00 under the build-transfer scheme. We also rehabilitated our provincial and barangay roads with the assistance of the Provincial Government in the amount of 1million pesos. Further, through the assistance of Congressman Romarate, the Looc Road in Barangay Dugsangon is now concreted.
We are improving our market for more convenience on the part of our market producers and consumers and for enhanced economic growth. Right now,
our 2-storey market is one of the best, if not the best, in the province. This is a 17 million project but what we have completed so far is the Phase 1 of the project which costs 9.6 Million pesos. Again, we are funding this under the Build- Transfer Scheme. We hope to complete this project before my term ends.
As to bridges-last year, we appropriated funds for the equity of the Construction of Sitio Little Baguio Bridge in Barangay Payapag. This project is being implemented by USAID-GEM with equity from the Provincial Government and our Municipal Government. As of now, this project which costs Php 5 million pesos, is almost completed and it has already provided benefits to our people in that area especially our vegetable growers. We also constructed the 15 linear meter- concrete- Poblacion-Siwata Bridge in order to make Sitio Siwata more accessible even to 4-wheel vehicles. This project costs 1.65 Million Pesos.
On the pipeline is the Rehabilitation of the Poblacion-Sto. Rosario Farm-to-Market Road and the Rehabilitation of Cambuayon Farm-to-Market Road. These projects, which cost 10.22 million pesos and 8.86 million pesos respectively, will be funded by the Department of Agriculture under the Mindanao Rural Development Program or MRDP with equity from the Municipal Government. We will be starting this project as soon as we receive the notice from the Department of Agriculture.
Also from MRDP funding, we have granted nine (9) livelihood projects to 9 people’s organizations last year. This amounted to 2.5 Million Pesos. This year we will be granting ten (10) livelihood projects to 10 people’s organizations amounting to another 2.5 Million Pesos. For all these projects, the Municipal Government has provided an equity of 1 Million Pesos. We are hoping that these projects will redound to a remarkable increase in productivity of the agriculture and fishery sector.
Our Municipal Agriculture personnel are conducting trainings, seminars and technology transfer activities to our local farmers and fishermen in order for them to learn and adopt appropriate technologies to improve their production and income. We also promote the use of organic fertilizer and integrated pest management to make our farming activities eco-friendly at the same time cost efficient.
I would like to thank the Department of Education for their effort in establishing school gardens in most of our schools. Our Bacuag Central Elementary School and BNAIS are SAPAGKAT (Sapat na Pagkain para sa Lahat) winners in the elementary and secondary levels, respectively. Congratulations! Your effort to promote vegetable gardening to your pupils and students is really a great contribution to our Food Sufficiency Program. Keep up the good work!
On tourism, we continue to host local and national skimboarding competitions in order to put Bacuag in the map as a major tourism destination of the province.
Our products, the nipa vinegar of Cabugao and the delicious bibingka of Poblacion are also gaining recognition as Bacuag’s best.
We are constantly promoting the Lubi-lubi Festival as the annual festival of Bacuag. It showcases not only our already popular street dancing but also Bacuag’s local products.
In our effort to further promote Bacuag, we joined prestigious festivals like Sinulog in Cebu City and WOW Caraga in Bislig, Surigao del Sur by sending our contingent there. We did not make it in Cebu but in Bislig we made it to the top. We emerged as the grand champion plus two (2) minor awards namely; Best in Costume and Best in Choreography.
We attract beach goers not just from Bacuag but also from other neighboring municipalities in our own Tadlas Beach and Tranquility Beach Resort. This is a good indication that our tourism industry is rising. Indeed, we will maximize our resources in making Bacuag the ideal municipality for sports and leisure.
Our other tourist attractions include Little Baguio Waterfalls, caves, rock formation and Puyo Islet where the marine sanctuary is located.
Occasionally, we hold commercial and invitational tennis tournaments
which attract players from the nearby municipalities and provinces. By doing this, we were also able to develop the interest of our youth to engage in sports.
We renovated our park and playground to make it more conducive to relaxation and leisure.
Our Public Employment Support Office (PESO) in Bacuag is very functional. In 2010, 25 Bacuaganons were hired for overseas employment in different countries like Hong Kong, Qatar, Kuwait, Malaysia and United Arab Emirates. Early this year, an addition of 10 Bacuaganons were hired.
Second, on Poverty Reduction through efficient and effective basic service delivery system. I am very pleased to inform you that starting this year 2011 our municipality is already covered by the Pantawid Pamilya Pilipino Program or 4Ps of the DSWD. To date, there are 879 households who are beneficiaries of the 4Ps and the total amount released from January to April this year is 2,650,200.00. This is a 5-year program of the government and is expected to uplift the living condition of our people especially those who are most in need.
We are also fortunate that aside from 4Ps, we have also availed of other programs of the DSWD namely; Social pension for Senior Citizens, Supplemental Feeding Program for Day Care Service Beneficiaries and Cash for Work Program. The social pension for senior citizens has benefited 57 elderlies aging 77 years old and above. These elderlies are receiving a monthly pension of 500 pesos from DSWD. Amount released by DSWD for this program from January to March this year is 85,500.00. The supplemental feeding is for the pre-schoolers in the different day care centers of the municipality. For this program, 421 pre-schoolers will be given supplemental feeding within 120 days. Amount allocated for this program is 631,500.00. The Cash for Work Program was a one- time assistance given to marginalized farmers and fishermen affected by calamities. There were 1,298 families who benefited from this program and the total amount released by DSWD was 2,296,448.00.
Our total Philhealth beneficiary for 2010 is 2,466. This represents approximately more than 90% insurance coverage meaning almost all our people are Philhealth beneficiaries already and therefore, they can avail the hospitalization benefits provided by Philhealth. I would like to thank Congressman Guillermo A. Romarate Jr. and Governor Sol F. Matugas for helping us expand the coverage of Philhealth in Bacuag.
We continue to provide efficient and effective health services to our people. Our Rural Health Unit is providing services like ante natal care, normal delivery, post partum care, immunization, family planning, growth monitoring, nutrition, communicable disease control, minor surgical cases, laboratory services, referral of emergency cases to core referral hospital, health education training, health counseling, dental services and environmental sanitary services.
Yearly, we conduct dental care services to all elementary schools in Bacuag District which include tooth extraction, tooth brushing drill and provision of toothbrush to Grade I pupils. We also provided two (2) units of dental through to Bacuag Central Elem. School for the Fit for School Project which will be launched this August.
The children have a soft spot in my heart. I see to it that every time there is a gathering of children like during Children’s Month Celebration and Culmination Programs of Day Care and Elementary Pupils, I am always there. During Christmas time, we always give gifts to children under our yearly “Pamaskong Handog” activity.
We are promoting the DOH policy on facility-based delivery. We are encouraging pregnant women to deliver at our main health center rather than at their homes, to prevent maternal death and increase infant survival. We are also vigorously promoting breastfeeding for proper nutrition of infants. Last year, we initiated the 1st ever Buntis Day and 1st Healthy Baby Contest as part of our maternal and child health care program.
Through the assistance of Agencia Española, we have established the Barangay Health Station in Barangay Dugsangon amounting to 500,000 pesos. We now have a total of five (5) Barangay Health Stations aside from our main health center in Barangay Poblacion.
We are lucky to have obtained the assistance of a total of 18 nurses since last year. In 2010, our staff in the Rural Health Unit has been augmented by 6 nurses employed by DOH and DOLE under the NARS program. This year we have a new batch of nurses, 12 of them, employed under the RN HEALS program. They will be serving the LGU until February next year.
The children have a soft spot in my heart. I see to it that every time there is a gathering of children like during Children’s Month Celebration and Culmination Programs of Day Care and Elementary Pupils, I am always there. During Christmas time, we always give gifts to children under our yearly “Pamaskong Handog” activity.
Every year we conduct the “Serbisyo sa Barangay” as our program to bring the government closer to the people. During the said activity, we provide a whole package of services to all barangays in the municipality to let the people feel that we, in the government, truly care for their needs.
We are also promoting the value of family. We believe that a harmonious community depends largely on the cohesiveness and harmony of every family. This is the reason why we conduct the “Kasalan ng Bayan” every September. So far, 57 couples have already been solemnized under our “Kasalan ng Bayan” program.
We actively support the Gender and Development (GAD) program of the national government. Through our GAD Team and our Mun. Social Welfare and Development Office, we implement programs that will benefit both men and women. We conducted GAD Sensitivity Training for the LGU employees, Anti-VAWC campaign to the barangays, conducted Women Forum and celebrate Women’s Month every year. We are also supporting the Bacuag Orchids Women Association (BOWA) in their organic fertilizer and vegetable gardening projects.
All our barangays have already their covered courts. Thanks again to Congressman Romarate who provided the funds for these projects. The last batch of covered courts are those constructed in Barangays Sto. Rosario, Pautao and Cambuayon.
Third, on peace and order. Through the efforts of our local PNP, Barangay Tanods, Katarungang Pambarangay hand in hand with the community, we were able to maintain peace and order here in Bacuag. In 2009, our crime solution efficiency was 88.46%. In 2010, we have increased it to 90.80%. We really appreciate the roles that our peacekeeping forces and the Katarungang Pambarangay have played to prevent crime and promote peace initiatives in all our barangays. We also acknowledge the contribution of the Municipal Peace and Order Council in creating a peace and orderly environment that enables each one of us to feel secure at any time of the day, anywhere within our area of jurisdiction.
Our campaign against all forms of criminal acts is progressing. Through our Municipal Police Office we were able to recover four (4) loose firearms which were turned-over to the police station from Barangays Payapag, Pautao, Dugsangon, and Cabugao. We also confiscated two (2) homemade hand guns known as “sumpak”.
We have apprehended an escapee from the Davao Correctional Office and turned –over the same to the proper authorities.
Lately, we have apprehended a Toyota Townace vehicle loaded with illegally sawn lumber at the National Highway, Brgy. Poblacion. The suspect and his vehicle were turned-over to Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), Surigao City for proper disposition and for filing of appropriate charges for violation of section 68 PD 705 as amended EO 277 series of 1987.
Fourth, on environmental protection and rehabilitation. We are now in a time when there is no other way to survive but to preserve Planet Earth and so, we join the whole world in rehabilitating and restoring our environment. At our level, we are doing something for our coastal and upland resources.
To improve our coastal resources, we properly maintained our 18.27 hectare- marine sanctuary which was established by PACAP in 2006. I thank the Bacuag Fisherfolks Association (BAFA) and the Bantay Dagat for their effort in the maintenance of this marine protected area. However, it seems that their effort is not enough as I still receive reports of illegal fishing in our marine sanctuary. So, I enjoin everyone especially the residents of Barangay Poblacion to help us preserve, maintain and advocate protection of our marine sanctuary as this is the habitat and the breeding place of our fishes and other marine life.
We are strengthening our coastal law enforcement mechanism. We have conducted seaborne patrols. We conducted training for the Bantay Dagat and plan to conduct another training in 2012 to increase the number of Bantay Dagat who are the ones deputized to apprehend illegal fishers in our coastal areas. We repaired our two (2) units of patrol boat. We also purchased buoys and other materials needed in the repair/rehab of our marine sanctuary in the amount of Php 28,000.00.
If you noticed, we have installed signages to protect our coastal resources. These signages are installed in our mangrove areas and along the seashore in Barangays Poblacion and Cabugao. We expect our people to cooperate and be one with us in protecting our environment.
We distributed 31,000 bangus fingerlings to Barangays Cabugao and Poblacion to help our fishpond owners increase their production. We also established four (4) units of fish shelter or Payao. We need to augment our fishery production in order to meet the needs of our growing population.
Lately, through the assistance of the DENR, we were successful in preparing our Coastal Land and Sea Use Zoning. This was aimed to identify areas along our coastline which we designate for different uses such as for tourism, navigation, protection, traditional fishing and docking. We will be implementing this zoning once the Sangguniang Bayan enacts it into an ordinance.
On solid waste management, we already exerted much effort and resources in order to make our town a “basura-free” municipality. We sent our municipal and barangay captains to a Lakbay Aral in Sto. Tomas, Davao del Norte. We did so, in order for them to observe and learn proper solid waste management practices. We did the same to some of our department heads, school administrators as well as to the barangay kagawads and purok chairmen of Barangay Poblacion . We conducted information drive to all barangays and we distributed SWM flyers to every household. We have provided financial assistance to all barangays for the construction of barangay MRFs and we did improvements in our central MRF in Kogtong. Right now, we already have two (2) shredding machines, 1 for the biodegradable wastes and the other one for the cellophanes and foils. Through the assistance of DENR Regional Office, we were able to formulate our 10-year Solid Waste Management Plan.
Sad to note however, that in spite of all those efforts, we have not fully improved our solid waste management practices. That’s why, just recently, I signed an executive order creating the Municipal Solid Waste Management Office whose task is to fully and effectively implement our Solid Waste Management Program. We hope that with the creation of this office, we will be able to make considerable progress on this particular program.
On reforestation program, I am happy that various groups are actively involved in this program especially our youth. It is indeed heartwarming to note that the youth in our municipality cares for our environment. In 2010, the BNAIS students planted 450 mahogany seedlings along the National Highway and another 200 seedlings were planted jointly by both the in-school and out-of-school youth in Barangays Poblacion, Cabugao and Sto. Rosario. The Bacuag Employees Multi Purpose Cooperative, Bacuag Water District, the PNP and other groups have also undertaken reforestation activities in different areas such as watershed area, dumping site, coastal area and school premises. Thanks to all of you and may your tribe increase!
Our Local Government Unit is actively participating both local and international celebrations like the Clean Up the World, World Forest Day, Arbor Day and the like in order to show our support to all initiatives relative to environmental protection and rehabilitation.
Just yesterday, the Provincial Governor launched the “Kalimpyo, Kahapsay Surigao” program as well as the “Fun Run” for the environment. This is another successful undertaking towards keeping our environment clean and green. We involved the whole Bacuag community especially the school kids who gathered garbage in exchange of school supplies. I know that we will be able to satisfactorily implement this in Bacuag in the future knowing that in the past, we won in the Provincial Search for the Cleanest and Greenest Municipality.
On disaster risk reduction and management, we have re-organized the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (formerly MDCC) and established the Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. We have formulated our Disaster Risk Management Plan and have conducted workshops on the formulation of the barangay search and rescue plan. As of now, all barangays have already their search and rescue plans wherein the barangays have already identified the vulnerable areas and would-be affected families during disaster. We also conducted earthquake drill in the municipal hall and we plan to conduct earthquake and fire drills and basic life support training for schools and barangays. This will be done to capacitate our people on disaster-preparedness so that zero casualties will be attained when disaster occurs.
Last February 3 this year, we were affected by flood due to continuous heavy rains. I personally led the rescue team in evacuating 200 families from Barangay Cabugao and Sitio Kogtong to the designated evacuation center which was St. John’s School. I already commended the PNP personnel who composed the rescue team for their gallantry in saving the lives and properties of our people during that incident. I wish also to thank the many individuals and groups who joined hands to help those who were heavily affected especially St. John’s School for providing shelter to our evacuees. I am also grateful to the Sangguniang Bayan for their speedy action in declaring a state of calamity otherwise, we could not have released the amount of Php250,000.00 from our calamity fund to purchase relief goods for the victims of the said calamity. Reflecting on that incident, I could say that in times of difficulty, the Bacuaganons become selfless.
Fifth on Education. In 2010, I think the biggest performance that my administration can boast of as far as education is concerned, is the establishment of a high school in Barangay Payapag known as Campo National High School Payapag Annex. This high school has long been dreamed of by the people of Payapag especially during this time when habal-habal fares and all transportation fares, for that matter, have continuously increased. Thanks to Gov. Sol Matugas, who, being an educator, was the only one who saw the need for a high school in Barangay Payapag. I would also like to give credit to the efforts of the Payapag Barangay Council, Municipal officials and the Dep Ed family on this undertaking. I am happy to announce that an additional two school buildings will be constructed this year. Again, thanks to Governor Matugas.
Worthy to mention are the school buildings constructed by the Agencia Española and those constructed by DepEd in Barangay Dugsangon. These school facilities have really contributed to improving the quality of education and so we are grateful to our donors.
Equally important are the Day Care Centers. We have 26 Day Care Centers in the different barangays of this municipality serving more than 300 pre-schoolers each year. The municipal government is providing honoraria to the day care workers and we are also providing them trainings and seminars to upgrade their knowledge and skills so that they can deliver quality services to our children.
Under our Legislative Educational Assistance Program (LEAP), we are supporting the education of 487 high school students. This is our answer to the problem on the increasing number of out-of-school youth in our municipality.
I have my own scholars too. To date, I have 8 scholars in college, 10 in high school and 2 have already graduated in college. This is my personal contribution to the education sector and to the students who dream for college education but could less afford it.
Because of the request of the schools for the completion of covered court, my ever gracious husband, Engr. Moke Cebedo provided his personal funds for the completion of the covered courts at Bacuag Central Elementary School, Bitaog Elementary School and Campo Elementary School.
We supported the activities of the Dep Ed Bacuag District. Through the local School Board Fund, we were able to provide for school activities like boy scouting, girl scouting, journalism, athletic competition, MANCOM and others. We also supported the “Brigada Eskwela” program of DepED.
On top of our accomplishments on my 5-point agenda, we also did well in development administration. From 2007 up to the present, our Sangguniang Bayan was able to pass and approve 281 resolutions, 17 Municipal Ordinances and 8 Appropriation Ordinances which were needed for the implementation of the programs and projects of the LGU. It has also enacted 6 out of 9 codes that the DILG requires.
We did well in planning. We have completed our Community Based Monitoring System (CBMS) which is an electronic data banking system. Through it, we can immediately access municipal and barangay data and maps through the computer. We are also currently updating our Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation Enhanced Municipal Comprehensive Land Use Plan under the funding of World Bank with the assistance from NEDA, HLURB and the Provincial Government.
We have established our Community e Center. This will be made operational this month. We are just awaiting the delivery of the equipment for internet connection. Once the Community e Center becomes operational, the LGU can then provide services like basic internet services, hands-on computer literacy and skills development trainings, provision of internet connectivity to schools, barangays and households and other services with a minimal fee.
Right now, we are already globally connected through our Facebook fan pages like Bacuag Hometown and Bacuag Leaders. These social networking initiatives have been instrumental in reaching out to the Bacuaganons abroad who need to be updated of the developments here in Bacuag. Kay bisan man lamang sa Facebook, makita sa ato mga kababayan nga tua sa gawas sa Pilipinas, nga ang Bacuag aduna nay mga kalambuan. Similarly, they can also share their thoughts and suggestions on how we can further improve our town.
We have improved our municipal government offices in order for our employees to be comfortable in their places of work and also for our clients to feel convenient and comfortable as well. We also added three (3) offices, the Solid Waste Management Office, Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and the COA Auditor’s Office. Because of this office renovation project, the offices downstairs are already elevated so as not to be affected by flood. For this project, the LGU has spent Php 911,000.00.
We also did well in budgeting, revenue mobilization, financial management, procurement and resource mobilization. In financial management, we have increased our collection from Php 2,003,537.84 in 2009 to Php 2,391,973.41 in 2010. This year (from January to June), we have collected a gross collection of 2,276,148.20 which placed the Municipality of Bacuag as No. 5 in the RPT collection in the whole province. This collection level represents 65% of this year’s target. Consequently, we reduced our dependency on the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) from 90.82% in 2009 to 90.00% in 2010.
We hope to further increase the level of collection by implementing the Enhanced Tax Revenue Assessment and Collection System (ETRACS) introduced by the AusAid Local Government Development Program.
We are always looking at the welfare of our employees because they are the ones providing our people with the basic government services. We sent them to trainings and we also conduct in-house training for them to increase their capacities and improve their job performance. We implemented a yearly salary increase for our employees in accordance with the DBM issuances on salary adjustments. Lately, we fully implemented the 2nd tranche of the Salary Standardization Law.
We, in the Local Government Unit, consider ourselves as one (1) family. We have our bonding time during Family Day, Christmas party and in other activities of the LGU. We eat, we dance and we laugh together. For the last two (2) Christmas parties, we fancy ourselves with wearing Hawaiian attire in 2009 and Mexican attire in 2010. During women’s month, we sponsor free hair cut for both men and women. We also hold cooking contests and various games for the enjoyment of everyone.
Twice, we have recognized our past leaders. We gave them tribute because they were the ones who laid the foundation on which we anchor all our efforts today. It is through their visionary mind and hard work that Bacuag becomes what it is today.
We acknowledge the important role of our local special bodies in local governance that’s why we see to it that these special bodies are functional namely; the Municipal Development Council, School Board, Health Board, Peace and Order Council, People’s Law Enforcement Board and the Bids and Awards Committee. We also organized other bodies which are applicable to us like the Local Housing Board and Municipal Council on Anti-trafficking-VAWC. We reactivated our Local Price Monitoring Council and the Municipal Council for the Protection of Children. We really believe that these councils and committees are our support system towards good governance.
We appreciate and recognize the efforts of all our Barangays. They are our children in the LGU family. Their achievements are also ours. Their pride is also our pride. And so, we are proud to announce that in 2009, Barangay Poblacion was awarded as the Outstanding Lupong Tagapamayapa in the Provincial and Regional levels and 3rd place in the national Level. It was also awarded as the Outstanding Barangay Peace and order Council of the Province in the same year.
Our Barangay Officials are trained and capacitated. All of them have attended the Barangay Newly Elected Officials (BNEO) Training Program conducted by DILG last march this year. Also, our nine (9) Barangay Secretaries have attended the Barangay Secretaries Skills Enhancement Training also conducted by the DILG.
One of best indicators that our LGU departments are performing very well is the recognition that we received. I am proud to announce to you that this year, Bacuag qualified in the Seal of Good Housekeeping Award at the regional level and we received 2 units of computer sets as our award. We are still awaiting the national evaluation and we hope we will qualify up to the national level wherein we will be awarded 1 million worth of project. So far, only three (3) municipalities in Caraga qualified for this award namely; Bacuag and Gigaquit in Surigao del Norte and Carmen in Surigao del Sur.
We also received other awards. In 2009, we got First Place in the Provincial Search for Outstanding Municipal Council for the Protection of Children MCPC) sponsored by DILG. That same year, our Sangguniang Bayan was awarded Provincial 1st runner-up in the 2009 Legislative Awards. We were also awarded with the Pusong Makakalikasan Award sponsored by DENR and the League of Municipalities of the Philippines and the Pusong Makakalusugan Award sponsored by the Department of Health and League of the Municipalities of the Philippines during the Zero Basura Caravan at Cagayan de Oro City.
We will continue to aim for excellence, not so much because of the award but more about good governance. We need to always give our “best shot” for the Bacuaganons because they very well deserve it.
I am also proud to add that I am the incumbent elected president of the League of the Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) Surigao del Norte Chapter. One of the projects of LMP together with the Provincial Government and Surigao Economic Development Foundation, Inc.(SEDFI) is Surigao’s Best which is located at the Provincial Sports Complex. Aimed to be Surigao’s first “one-stop-tourism-shop”, Surigao’s Best currently showcases the province’s best local products, delicacies, destinations and so much more. There will be a re-launching that we are preparing to further promote the project. Aside from that, the LMP will also sponsor the Search for Bb. Surigao in September and the Provincial Agri-Tourism Summit in October.
We are also proud that the elected Provincial Federated President of the Liga ng mga Barangay for the last two (2) consecutive terms is a Bacuaganon in the person of my brother, Hon. Ebro Joy B. Orquina.
Now, looking back from where we were before and where we are now, we can proudly say that we have progressed, we have moved forward.
I would like therefore, to thank all my partners in local governance who all did their assignments very well – the Sannguniang Bayan of Bacuag headed by our dynamic Municipal Vice Mayor, the honorable Columbano J. Manliguis Jr., the municipal employees headed by my competent and hardworking department heads, the equally hardworking Barangay Captains and their Councils and the civil society organizations who are actively involved in any of our development programs and projects.
I wish also to acknowledge the valuable contribution of our congressman, our governor, the national government agencies that are helping us especially Dep Ed, PNP, DILG, DA, DAR, DENR, DOLE and DTI, our fund donors and the NGOs who have collaborated with us in the continuing effort to develop our municipality.
I also salute my fellow Bacuaganons for putting your trust in me. It is such a daunting task but I would never try to let you all down. Thanks for the constant support you have given to me.
Of course, how can I forget my family who endlessly gives me inspiration and courage to persevere. Thank you so much for providing me the strength to believe in myself and what I am capable to achieve.
And to God who never failed to bless me and who always backed me up every time, my sincerest thank you.
In the next few years, I want to further increase the gains that we have achieved so far. I enjoin all my partners to again work hard for the creation of jobs and livelihood activities for the people, the reduction of poverty among the people, stable peace and order condition, health care and other basic services, environmental management, education, disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.
As we can see, the road towards the full development of Bacuag is still far. Perhaps it will take us a lifetime or even more to reach there. But what is important is that, at this point in time, when we are given the chance to serve our people, we can proudly say that we have served our people well and we will never get tired of serving them to the best that we can. That’s what I call - “Serbisyong totoo”. All that we ask our people is to be resilient, creative and self-reliant so that they can survive whatever crisis that may affect us. We, in the government can only provide support services for them.
I believe in the capability and unity of the Bacuaganons just as the late Dr. Jose Rizal and Senator Ninoy Aquino had faith in the Filipino people. I know that someday, with the grace of God and with us working together, we will be able to attain our vision for Bacuag which is ; “ A major eco- tourism destination with a flourishing economy inhabited by God-centered, empowered, secured and culturally- sensitive citizenry working with competent and pro-active leaders in a sustainable and well-balanced environment.”
In closing, let me quote Joel Barker , “ Vision without action is just a dream. Action without vision is just passing time. Vision with action can change the world”.
We might not change the world now, but surely, with our unified desire to achieve our vision with our collective actions, we can make Bacuag, more prosperous, more developed and more secure.
Thank you very much and Mabuhay ang Bacuaganons!
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State of the Municipality Address of Mayor Sheila Mae O. Cebedo
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