STA. ANA, Pampanga – The “suntok sa buwan” wishfulness voters here appended to the public hospital proffered by then-candidate Engr. Ferdinand “Dinan” Labung turned into a “puede pala” realization within his first 100 days in the mayoralty.
Labung’s personal donation of land in Barangay San Bartolome has set the ball rolling for the construction of a community hospital funded by the Department of Health.
Initially a BUCAS (Bagong Urgent Care and Ambulatory Service) Center, the facility shall provide fast, accessible, and affordable immediate outpatient medical care to residents, especially the poor, serving as an intermediate step between primary health clinics and large hospitals.
Expanded health services with special focus on indigents that the mayor initiated include free wheelchairs, walkers, and vials of insulin. Soon to rise too is the municipal animal bite center and the Consulta Center within the municipal compound that will further enhance access to free and quality health care.
Labung’s can-do intensity impacted too in the town’s long-time problems of garbage and traffic.
The mayor not only cleaned the Augean stable that was the materials recovery facility but regimented the collection of garbage, procured a brand-new garbage truck from the provincial government, and doubled the wages of garbage collectors in recognition of their valuable service to the community.
Clearing the streets of obstructions, no-nonsense enforcement of no-parking laws on major throughfares, opening side streets, the deployment of more traffic enforcers with corresponding pay increases dramatically accelerated traffic flow in the municipality.
Line and pavement markings, including pedestrian lanes as well as the asphalting of the Jose Abad Santos Avenue from the Arayat–Sta. Ana boundary to the town proper also helped in the highly improved traffic flow.
Living up to his advocacy of government transparency, Labung strictly implemented a policy of “No SOP,” referencing the total absence of “Suhol o Padulas” in the local government where he fostered a culture of integrity, honesty, and dignity.
To ensure efficiency and accountability, the local government created an internal audit unit and holds weekly meetings with department heads. The mayor also removed the Mayor’s Working Permit fee, which was a welcome relief to local workers and small business owners.
Servant leadership, Labung made most manifest in donating his entire salary alternately to students, solo parents, disabled persons, others in the marginalized sector, and even the parish pastoral council.
This, even as the LGU has institutionalized social and livelihood projects like the “Angat Pamilya, Labung Sta. Ana,” which empowers poor families through training and support. Relief distribution, educational subsidy, and programs for senior citizens and those on the peripheries of local society remain constant and consistent.
“Education is a great force for change.” With that as a core value, the mayor firmly holds that investing in the students is investing in the future of Sta. Ana.
Since Labung’s assumption of the mayorship, LGU support to learners has doubled down through educational assistance and scholarship grants and subsidies for poor but deserving students.
In his aggressive effort to increase the availability of higher education in town, he also allocated a portion of the lot that he donated for the proposed Pampanga State University–Sta. Ana Campus, with plans and negotiations already on the pipeline. The local government also has an active role to help schools upgrade facilities and equipment so that they are able to produce a more productive learning environment.
Cognizant of Sta. Ana as still largely agricultural, the municipal government regularly provides cash subsidy, hybrid and inbred seeds, fertilizers, and other farm inputs to help farmers bounce back from calamities and improve crop production. Anti-rabies vaccination campaign sessions are also ongoing as part of the animal health program of the LGU.
Not simple promotion and preservation but the enrichment of culture and heritage in Sta. Ana, has the Labung mayoralty embarked upon.
At the 2025 Sta. Ana Town Fiesta the LGU hosted commenced the Most Outstanding Pimpeño Awards as recognition to the town’s citizens whose achievements in their fields of endeavor gave pride and prestige to Sta. Ana. The very name of the award honors and rediscovers the legacy of the town once named “Pinpin.”
Currently, the LGU is in the thick of negotiations with the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority to build a tourist rest area where local products and attractions would be showcased.
Milestones in health care, environmental management, traffic alleviation, education, social services and transparency in governance in the first 100 days are no mean feat for just any other local government executive.
Dinan Labung though is not just any other. With his governance solidly grounded on “Mabilis ang Aksyon, Walang Korapsyon,” there is no other way for Sta. Ana but to soar to progress with integrity, efficiency, and high public trust.
