(Mayor Edwin Santiago presents accomplishments to his people. Photo by Bong Lacson)
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – The 40-minute “Ulat Sa Bayan or State Of the City Address (SOCA)” of Mayor Edwin “Edsa” D. Santiago over the weekend here drew various reactions from Fernandinos.
The mayor’s SOCA went from “sublime to ludicrous” wrote blogger Bong Lacson after featuring a blunder and injecting a hardly-known cartoon character as representative of the youth. “Jack-jack represents the emerging generation Z,” declared the mayor.
At one point, the power point presentation in the background showed social services and economic services with exactly the same figures – P460,352,109.23.
The letter “T” in “Ulat” also went missing leaving only “Ula” which is a Kapampangan word for guess in the large, vivid visual presentation where the talking Santiago was at the foreground generating some laughter in the media table.
Not a few social media posts scoff ed at Santiago’s blunders with some agreeing on a collective observation: “Ganda ng intro biglang bagsak (what a beautiful intro which suddenly crashed).”
But despite the blunders, Santiago’s SOCA highlighted his achievements beginning with this city as model for countryside development by 2025.
Santiago also mentioned “Social Equity” where no one will be left behind in his administration.
“Dito sa Syudad walang Maiiwanan sa Pagpapa-unlad ng Sarili Pamilya at Komunidad.”
The mayor cited human resources as “the greatest asset” of San Fernando. “We can only off er holistic Education to our youth because we want them to become the citizens we envision them to be: mayap magaling at matinu.”
Santiago said the city’s K-12 program was very successful noting that the promotion rate of Senior High Schools is at 88 percent which is far more-higher than that of the national rating of only 48 percent.
“Dahil dito masasabi nating matagumpay ang layunin ng K-12 program sa pagbibigay ng karampatang skills requirement para maging qualifi ed sa trabaho ang isang High School graduate at iangat ang level ng College Education sa bansa.”
Bannering “economic development,” he cited as proof the number of tourists that visited the city. “…halos kahalating milyon na ang bilang ng mga turista na bumisita sa ating mga lokal na aktibidad sa syudad. Malaking porsyento dito ay iyong mga dumalo sa taunang Giant Lantern Festival.”
Tops in tourism
In response, the mayor said the number of tourism related establishments in the city has grown as the city is now recognized as “Top Tourism Hub” in the Philippines.
“Totoo ngang consistent actions create great results dahil ang San Fernando ay kinilala bilang Top Tourism Hub sa buong Pilipinas dahil dito sa atin heritage culture and business go hand-inhand.”
In the field of business, Santiago said there are now more than 10,000 registered business establishments in the city since 2017 which equates to P70 billion revenues.
The registered businesses also generated more than 5,000 newly- hired workers for Fernandinos, he said.
Santiago said proof of the continuing increase in businesses is the retention of the city’s citation as the Most Business Friendly City in the Philippines.
He said in 2017, the new and improved Investment Incentive Code of the city was approved which is an ordinance that invites new investments for the city.
The mayor said after a thorough public consultation, the Market and Revenue Code was also approved to render comprehensive public service and make the city very competitive.
Civic center
Another big step is the establishment of the City Civic Center with a total investment of P1.2 billion, Santiago said.
For this year, he said, some P263 million have been earmarked for a command and control center or c3, youth development center, multi-purpose/ senior citizen center, central evacuation center, DepEd training center, special drug education center, and technical vocational school.
In 2017, some P369 million have been generated from crop production which is higher by 10.38 percent as compared in 2016, he said.
Also highlighted were the continuing modernization of agriculture as well as the distribution of diff erent kinds of farm machineries which total P4 million and P440,000, respectively.
In livestock production, the city earned P746 million. Santiago said the city is foremost in the implementation of Post Meat Establishment.
In the field of governance, Santiago said in the city every peso counts. “Dito sa San Fernando, bawat piso’y mahalaga, sa pagsulong ng syudad Fernandino Kabahagi ka!”
P1.4-B income For 2017, the total income o the city has already reached P1.376 billion where P720 million or 52 percent is locally generated which means that the city has a strong fiscal autonomy.
For social services, more than P460 million was earmarked while P266 million was allotted for economic services, he said.
It was at this point, however, that the power point presentation showed the same figures.
Santiago said before the end of 2017, the city got its ISO 9001:2015 certification from the certifying body Anglo Japanese American Registrars Incorporated.
This proves the prompt processing of important documents that Fernandinos need either for their personal gains or business needs, he said.
Awards
The city has garnered more than20 awards from different organizations since the beginning of the year, he said.
Among these are the “Top 1 Most Business Friendly City award from Manila Times, Most Successful LGU in the Institutionalization of BPLS, Reforms E-Readiness Leadership, Most Competitive City in the Philippines, Outstanding Healthy Lifestyle Advocacy at PESO with the Highest Jobstart.”
This is on top of different plaques and trophies like the 2017 Outstanding Local Civil Registry Office award and the Regional Gawad Kalasag Awardee.
Santiago said he was also again recognized for the fourth time as Most Outstanding Mayor in the Philippines.
On the youth, Santiago said: “We will capitalize on their assertiveness and skills as digital natives to become productive socially aware and engaged citizen by diverting their energies and creativity to worthwhile endeavors.”
At this point, the cartoon characters Incredibles were shown in the large screen. “…we need superheroes to work with the government…Jack-jack represents the emerging generation Z. Sila ang mga Culture Creators na may napakalaking potensyal na maging magaling, mabuti at matino with conscious parenting and nurturing care of other adults.”
Prior to the SOCA, newly-elected barangay officials as well as SK officials took their oath of office.
