123 RESOUNDING APPLAUSE FOR MAYOR MIGUEL’S STATE OF THE CITY ADDRESS
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City Mayor Peter Miguel received 123 resounding
applause during his State of the City Address (SOCA) last July 9, making this
year’s SOCA his most applauded speech.
Mayor Miguel held his audience captive at the
South Cotabato Gymnasium and Cultural Center for a speech which ran 2 hours
long including adlibs. Thousands of spectators and guest officials coming from the
provincial government and the neighboring municipalities, heads and employees
of the regional offices, academe, business sector and civil society graced the
occasion.
In his speech, the Mayor painted a full picture
of the current development of the city using the model of Productivity and
Ecological Balance Towards Economic-social Recovery (PETER) agenda which
follows a set of strategies for the attainment of each development thrust. The
mayor said that he was compelled to introduce changes and innovations to the
city’s current development framework to provide a clearer, doable and
sustainable climate change responsive development direction for the city. It is
where the Green Economy was introduced to create a sustainable development
approach leading towards economic-social recovery.
“This is
the development that we want for Koronadal, a socio-economic development that
does not compromise the needs of the
future generation”, Mayor Miguel said.
The Mayor presented a long list of
accomplishments in which he highlighted the city’s intensified local
revenue collection with highest efficiency attained in both real property tax
and local revenue collection and was duly recognized by the Bureau of the Local
Government Finance Region XII of the Department of Finance. “I am happy to inform you that our efforts
have brought a huge 62% increase in our
income from local revenues; from only
about P90.5M in 2010 to more than P146M in 2011”,Mayor Miguel emphasized. “We wanted to increase local revenues by more efficient tax
collection campaign in order to give back more social services and
infrastructure to our people, and we did”, he added.
With the present population of 166,465 in 2011,
the Mayor explained that the city government was able to spend about P4,228 per
person last year, which is higher than the national average expenditure per
capita of P3,387.96. Further he called for all Koronadaleños to work even
harder to gradually free the city from too much IRA dependency.
Mayor
Miguel acknowledged the Members of the
Sangguniang Panlungsod led by City Vice Mayor Eliordo U.Ogena for their full
legislative support through the appropriation of financial and technical resources
to facilitate the implementation of programs and projects. He cited with
gratefulness the full support as well of his department heads and all the personnel
of the City government. He also recognized the well-performing barangay
government units who excelled in the Dangal ng Barangay evaluation.
Towards the end of his speech, the Mayor enumerated
the various citations that the city
garnered for its excellent
performance and innovations in
governance in 2011 and in early 2012 which included among others as BEST PREPARED LOCAL RISK REDUCTION MANAGEMENT COUNCIL IN REGION XII, qualifying the city for the national GAWAD KALASAG AWARD; Silver Recipient of the Seal of Good
Housekeeping in the country qualifying the city as a contender for the regional
“GAWAD PAMANA NG LAHI”, an award for
excellence in local governance; BEST
PRACTICE IN PUBLIC-PRIVATE-PARTNERSHIP (PPPP), having implemented the first successful BOT project on ICT; LGU with the HIGHEST EFFICIENCY IN BOTH REAL PROPERTY TAX AND BUSINESS TAX
COLLECTIONS IN REGION XII; HALL OF FAMER for NUTRITION HONOR AWARD AT THE
NATIONAL LEVEL.
Being the son of Former City Mayor Fernando Q.
Miguel, the longest-serving mayor in the province, Mayor Peter Miguel also
revealed his feelings of apprehension that he could be merely performing as a
shadow of the many good things his father did after he accepted the challenge
of leading the city. Yet, after his 2 years
in service he said he too had set a unique imprint in shaping Koronadal.
City Mayor Miguel also outlined his priorities
for the rest of 2012 and for 2013 offering
a glimpse into the future by highlighting some upcoming projects. To a great applause and awe of the
audience, he cited the
construction of the city’s Integrated Transport Terminal at Purok Yellow Bell, Brgy.Sta.Cruz
and the transformation of Rizal Park into a wholesome theme park among others,
all viewed in virtual presentation.
In conclusion, the Mayor said, “We will continue to work the hardest, and
we will not rest, not for a second, until we have fulfilled the promise and possibility of this great
city for every Koronadaleño”.
The speech, delivered mostly in Ilonggo as the
common dialect in the city and supported with an audio-visual presentation, was
met with a standing ovation.
In a radio interview, Miguel said that during his
speech, there was a streak of stirred emotion in him when he said that the
greatest accolade for all the accomplishments should go to all the constituents
being his inspiration for all his hard work.
Meanwhile, Mayor Miguel speech
received positive comments and appreciation from spectators coming from the
different sectors. Father Ricardo Pajarillo, Jr. from the local Catholic parish
of the City commended the administration’s accomplishments which focused on the
integral development of the people giving emphasis on his capability as a
leader able to respond to the demands and challenges of today. Likewise, Mr.
Carlito Uy of the business sector gave the Mayor a good
deal of credit for meeting the
expectations of the business sector by establishing good public-private partnership.
PRIORITY
THRUSTS: MOVING FORWARD TO 2012-2013
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The construction of the city’s first ever Integrated Transport Terminal at Purok Yellow Bell, B/Sta.Cruz tops the City of Koronadal’s agenda with
significant features of green architecture and facilities, use of natural
ventilation, use of natural lighting (skylight)and LED lights, provision of
adequate green open spaces, preservation and integration in the design of the
land’s existing natural water bodies and
natural features.
Ø
Conduct
of 3rd Tree Growing Festival on June 29,2013 with bolder
goals and bigger targets of 500,000 forest and fruit trees on 2,000 hectares of
upland forest along Roxas and Quezon Mountain Ranges
Ø
Urban Greening and Redevelopment Program
Ø
Enhancement of Rizal Park with environment and
child-friendly facilities and family-oriented spaces
Ø
Improvement of the public market including our
Satellite Market or the “Chinatown” to make them competitive with the big malls
Ø
Development of Old City Hall into a Prime Cultural Center
Ø
Procurement of 2 lots for the proposed Establishment of
Sanitary Landfill and Relocation of Public Cemetery
Proclamation No. 409, s. 2012-29 JUNE 2012, AS A SPECIAL (NON-WORKING)
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lgu_kor@hotmail.com
Proclamation No. 409, s. 2012
MALACAÑAN PALACE
MANILA
MANILA
BY THE PRESIDENT OF THE PHILIPPINES
PROCLAMATION NO. 409
DECLARING FRIDAY, 29 JUNE 2012, AS A SPECIAL (NON-WORKING) DAY IN THE CITY OF KORONADAL, PROVINCE OF SOUTH COTABATO
WHEREAS, Friday, 29 June 2012, marks the Culmination Program of the Environment Month and the 2nd Tree Growing Festival in the City of Koronadal;
WHEREAS, it is but fitting and proper that the people of the City of Koronadal be given full opportunity to celebrate and participate in the occasion with appropriate ceremonies.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR., Executive Secretary, by authority of His Excellency, BENIGNO S. AQUINO III, do hereby declare Friday, 29 June 2012, as a special (non-working) day in the City of Koronadal.
IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand and caused the seal of the Republic of the Philippines to be affixed.
Done in the City of Manila, this 18th day of June, in the year of Our Lord, Two Thousand and Twelve.
By authority of the President:
(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.Executive Secretary
(Sgd.) PAQUITO N. OCHOA JR.Executive Secretary
RESOURCES
250,000 more trees to grow in Koronadal on June 29
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Join the biggest festival of trees!
250,000 more trees to grow in Koronadal on June 29
Fresh from the success of the 2011 Tree Growing Festival, on June 29, the City of Koronadal will again set a remarkable record of planting 250,000 trees in one day covering 1,000 hectares of land within the Quezon Mountain Ranges in the barangays of San Jose, Esperanza, Mabini, Cacub and Topland.
The city government, in its ardent effort to create a culture of caring for the environment and to intensively campaign for the restoration and preservation of forest areas, targets to double the figure from 131,028 forest and fruit trees planted in 522.78 hectares last year to 250,000 in 1,000 hectares of land this year.
City Mayor Peter B. Miguel takes on the advocacy himself and appeals for cooperation and volunteerism among all Koronadaleños to be concerned of Mother Earth. “The Tree Growing Festival is just one among the major efforts of this City in its environmental advocacies. We know how important trees are if we are to preserve and protect our environment.” Mayor Miguel said. “This year, the 2nd Tree Growing Festival will be bigger and will cover more areas for us to send a concrete message that we are very serious in addressing our basic environmental concerns,” he added.
From about 30,000 individual volunteers last year, the Mayor now calls for more support from all employees of the city government, regional government offices, non-government organizations, civic groups, academic community, business establishments and residents of the city to do their share by taking part in the said undertaking. Volunteer can register at designated sites such as Ace Centerpoint, KCC, Gaisano Grand Mall of Koronadal and at the City ENRO for this activity.
The Tree Growing Festival is among the major priorities of Mayor Miguel under the Masaganang Kalikasan Program . This program is also in support to the celebration of the Environment Month (June) and to the National Greening Program of the Aquino’s administration. It also aims to increase the forest cover of the city.
Meanwhile, what makes this activity more significant is that the city government purposely dubbed it as “tree growing” to ensure that more trees would survive by hiring community extension workers to monitor their growth. Likewise, commitment to nurture and take care of the trees planted will be strengthened through the signing of a Memorandum of Agreement between the City Government and the landowners during the event. To ensure the sustainability of the program, employees of the City Government through the City Environment and Natural Resources Office will take the lead in the program implementation with the active involvement of the community.
Given that this year’s target demands for more seedlings, the organizers also seek to encourage donations of seedlings (forest and fruit trees) or in kind from the general public.
By: Caroline G. Mariano
