State of the City Address (SOCA) of Quezon City Mayor HERBERT M. BAUTISTAAugust 16, 2010, Carlos Albert Hall, Quezon Cityhttp://www.quezoncity.gov.ph/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=476%3Amayor-herbert-m-bautista-1st-state-of-the-city-address&catid=43%3Astate-of-the-city-address&Itemid=85
Balikatan sa Maginhawa at Progresibong Lungsod Quezon
Mga kasamahan sa paglilingkod at serbisyo, mga kaibigan at katuwang sa pag-unlad.
Galak na galak akong bumalik dito sa Session Hall, lalo na at pinaayos at pinaganda na. Ito ang inaasam-asam ko nung siyam na taon akong nagserbisyo bilang Pangalawang Punong Lungsod. Mabuti naman at nangyari na. Gawin natin itong pangitain ng isang mas masigla at mas mapursiging pamamahala.
Lubos ang aking pasasalamat sa ating Maykapal, sa ating mga kababayan at sa inyong lahat, na naririto ako ngayon, nagpapahayag ng aking mga adhikain, ngayon bilang Punong Lungsod ng napakagandang Lungsod Quezon.
Sa aking mga kasamang naihalal na opisyal, naririto tayo ngayon dahil sa suporta at paniniwala ng ating mga kababayan sa ating kakayahan bilang mga lider. Ngayon, higit sa ating mga partido politikal ay ang ating pagkasundo sa layunin at patutunguhan ng ating lungsod, at ang kahandaan nating maglingkod at magtulungan bilang isang Pangkat Quezon City.
Lahat tayo, dapat magkakampi kung ang ikabubuti ng Quezon City ang pag-uusapan. I campaigned on a platform of “bayanihan” and “balikatang bayan.” This means that partnerships, team work and consultations with the citizenry are important facets of my governance policy. Cooperation, collective action and empowerment of our people will be the vehicles through which we will all reach our goals in a much faster, and much better way. Huwag nating kalimutan na lahat tayo ay Pangkat Quezon City.
Through the past 10 years, our City has gone through dramatic transitions. We have risen from being bottom-dweller in public performance, to the highest rungs in competitiveness surveys – whether this be in education, business or livability.
Organizations, both here and abroad, have been heaping praise on our governance achievements.
But success should not make us complacent. The benchmarks and expectations are now much higher, while the challenges and problems continue to be difficult, perhaps growing in scale as well.
While Quezon City is now the most competitive in Metro Manila and one of the most viable in the Philippines, the goal is for the City to become globally competitive. City promotion is no longer as simple as putting up cultural shows; the strategic planning of this can become a strong competitiveness anchor.
Tourism as an economic driver
As our tourism czar, the Vice Mayor has said in her inaugural address, a successful tourism and investment promotional program, coupled with effective brand management strategies for Quezon City, can coordinate such variables as tourism infrastructure, quality of local services, and the competitive edge of the city in education, information technology and health and wellness, into a well rationalized plan that draws in investors and consumers, not only from other parts of the Philippines but also from other countries. I am confident that with our Vice Mayor at the helm of this endeavor, our city will be guided by cutting-edge approaches and strategies in City promotions.
We are fortunate that ours is a very financially stable local government. We reached the comfort of this status because we were money-wise and value conscious in our use of funds. Our government placed a premium on value for money in its expenditures, as well as adopted a needs-driven, not a request-driven approach. Let us continue to be prudent and judicious in our use of funds. Let us not be enamored by the label “richest city,” because riches can easily disappear if we squander these on useless spending. We are better off being known as the “most resource-wise city.”
Our City’s growth in these past 9 years, was propelled by massive investments in socioeconomic infrastructure – highly visible road expansion and drainage improvements, school buildings, parks, pedestrianization, environment projects and other urban improvements that have made life in Quezon City so much better.
Prudent and resource-wise
Some of these investments require continuing fund allocations to bring these projects to full realization. For example, our modernization of the Quezon City General Hospital into a 250-bed medical center and the upgrading of the Novaliches District Hospital into a specialty maternal and infant care facility must be supported by massive investments in modern equipment and facilities, so that our poor will enjoy the full benefits of modern health care. Developing a new landfill is another significant and extremely necessary investment, as we comply with Republic Act 9003 to close our present landfill by December 2010. We will need from PhP500 million to PhP600 million to develop a new site.
We must also honor our commitment to our employees. Quezon City government employees are one of the most, if not the most, highly paid local government employees in the Philippines. Para sa kapakanan ng ating mga empleyado, tinutuloy natin ang pagsasakatuparan ng Salary Standardization Act na nagtatakda ng dagdag na sweldo taon-taon. Kaya sinisiguro natin na may budyet tayo para dito, na umaabot sa dalawang daang milyon taon-taon.
Dahil kailangan nating maisakatuparan itong mga prioridad na programa, kailangan tayong magtipid sa ibang hindi kinakailangang bagay.
Let us do away with wasteful spending, and continuously find ways to reduce operational costs, without compromising public service efficiency. Let us remember that when we finance frills and non-essentials, we may be diverting funds from basic services that are critically needed. This means limiting city-funded travel expenses and limiting new vehicle acquisitions to those very essential for public services.
I have directed our City’s financial managers to guide our City executives towards a more diligent review of their programs and projects; some may have become obsolete, redundant or generate marginal value, or are misaligned with their mandates. Planning and programming must be based on zero-based budgeting, not on the traditional increments over the past year’s budget. Working leaner but smarter must be the order of the times.
Maximize value for money. Let our funds work for us twice or more. For example, as we remit the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA)’s share of our revenues, let us require them to use these to fund flood control projects in QC, mutually converging their objectives with ours.
New technology harnessed for greater public service efficiencies
While we begun in earnest our computerization of revenue operations eight years ago, we still have to attain greater efficiencies in the integration of our systems. I have made it mandatory for our Information Technology Office to integrate the data processes of all City offices involved in financial operations, especially Accounting, Budget, Assessor, Treasurer, City Administrator, and Business Permits.
Moreover, before the end of this year, we shall make completely functional our ISSP or information systems strategic plan, to unify all the operating offices of our executive and legislative branches into one, interacting network. This will also provide each of our offices, a digital interface with our publics.
New technology must be used more and more in improving public convenience in availing of City services. My goal is for more of our communication to be paperless and for more of our publics to be able to interact with the City government, from the comfort of their homes or offices.
MULTI-PRONGED DISASTER RISK MITIGATION AND MANAGEMENT
These days, we are continuously inundated by rains. Who can forget the devastation of Typhoon Ondoy? We must be better prepared, not only for floods but also for earthquakes and other phenomenon aggravated by climate change. This is why disaster risk reduction is one of my priorities. I am addressing this problem from various fronts:
From the infrastructure improvement perspective, I have directed our City engineers and planning people to prioritize for implementation, the repair and improvement of embankments, rip raps and other flood control measures;
From the perspective of risk mitigation, instead of simply disaster response, we are transforming the Barangay Development Councils into Barangay Disaster Risk Management Councils, following the spirit of the Philippine Disaster Risk Management Act or Republic Act 10121, as well as improving the capacity of our quick-response multi-department response teams from City Hall.
A new feature of our disaster risk mitigation proactiveness is the involvement of our City Planning Office in identifying danger areas around our City. The Office of the Building Official and our City Council should be strict in prohibiting the construction of risky structures in these areas.
From the strategy of continuously clearing the waterways, I have placed the Secretary to the Mayor in charge of the team that is making sure that our waterways are declogged and free from all obstructions. Our local government has the Water Code of the Philippines or Presidential Decree 1067, as guide to execute all actions necessary to properly utilize, develop, conserve and protect our City’s water resources.
From the strategy of keeping our indigent population safe, we are working on projects that will remove people from danger areas – along creeks, canals, embankments, sewers, and other hazard-prone areas; and assist them in getting properly resettled in safer, legally allowed places.
From a wider-scale and longer-term flood mitigation strategy, we are now working in tandem with the World Bank, the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the Department of Public Works and Highways, to benefit from Metro Manila-wide improved waterways management systems.
Because the responsibility is so wide in scale, we would like to tap the assistance of our national officials to help enhance Quezon City’s efforts at flood mitigation. Our Congressional representatives led by Speaker Belmonte, Representatives Crisologo, Castelo, Banal and Herrera-Dy; as well as our friends and Quezon City residents at the Senate, like Senator Vicente Sotto III, can help us give greater teeth to our local programs through funds and program complementation from the national government.
OHESIVE AND COMPREHENSIVE ENVIRONMENT MANAGEMENT
The calamities remind us that climate change is more than just a buzzword. Being responsive is critical to good governance and essential to preserving the well-being of our people. For the City to have a cohesive and well-studied environment policy, I have directed that an Environmental Board be immediately constituted, composed of academic experts, practitioners, City executives, and other stakeholders. We must be forward-looking, as well as responsive to present realities.
We have been fighting climate change by collecting and destroying the greenhouse gas, methane, which is about 23 times more potent than carbon dioxide, from our Payatas landfill. Now, we have to expand our efforts at reducing our carbon emissions. Many solutions are practical and easily implementable.
We have to set the example at City Hall, by making ours a showcase for energy efficiency. A start is the switch towards more energy efficient lighting. In addition, I have directed the Building Official and the City Engineering head to see to it that green architectural features are incorporated in City Hall buildings and all City-funded structures. We must also be conscious of water waste, by immediately repairing all leaks and adopting water-conserving water closet fixtures. Our private concessionaires have also assured us of their vigilance in repairing such leaks. The design of city facilities should also include provisions for rain water catchment areas and other resource-saving measures.
Resource waste is another climate change trigger. Let us preserve our trees, and in turn, reduce garbage volumes by recycling our paper. City offices are huge paper consumers. I have directed the head of our Environmental Protection and Waste Management Department to study the most efficient arrangement to reprocess waste paper into usable sheets for the local government and for our schools.
Streetlights are another high energy consumer. We should switch to more energy-efficient lighting for all illumination maintained by the City government. The Task Force on Streetlighting has been directed to gradually implement the replacement of bulbs, within available budgets and in a manner that does not compromise security.
The rest of the City must follow suit. The Building Official must begin enforcing the implementing rules and regulations of the Green Building Ordinance, and be guided by the Rapid Assessment Framework developed by the World Bank, to promote energy efficiency in Quezon City buildings.
We have beautified the sidewalks in many parts of the city, to encourage greater pedestrianization and less vehicle use. We have also masterplanned a new Central Business District that adopts as core principles the features of ecologically well-planned cities.
We can eventually consolidate our energy saving initiatives into a carbon-offset package, that will qualify for carbon credits, allowing our best practices to become a new revenue source.
MAXIMIZED USE OF CITY-OWNED PROPERTIES, FOR ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL GAINS
I have said that we should be known as a resource-wise city. That applies not only to our finances, but also to all our assets. We must see to it that all City government assets are put to productive use. I have ordered a comprehensive inventory and review of all properties titled to the City, to properly account for these, to assess their present use, and to study better uses of these to better serve the City’s needs. The same principle must be applied to properties acquired by the City government through public auction.
City structures, especially those in central parts of the City, must be developed to maximize land values. Efficiently planned vertical developments can expand the usefulness of such facilities presently used for one-level daycare centers, health centers and markets.
The City jail is an anathema in a public park; more so since it is in a very high people-traffic area, in a valuable piece of City property. We should press the National Government to move the City jail out of Bernardo Park, and offer them a more appropriate site in the outskirts of the city.
We must keep track of our open spaces, some of which have become havens of urban blight. I have instructed the head of the Subdivision Administration Unit, to make an inventory of all such spaces, report to me the present condition of these, so we can put them to more beneficial uses.
POVERTY ALLEVIATION, WITH NEW TECHNOLOGY APPROACH
In the past months, during our campaign, the issues that kept being brought to the top of the agenda in many of our dialogues had to do with poverty alleviation and housing. The clamor became so pressing that the Vice Mayor and I agreed to put these intertwined issues at the top of our priorities during this Administration. The Vice Mayor is now head of our City government’s Anti-Poverty task force, with the social services chief as her vice chair. This ensures top-level commitment, as well as innovative and aggressive responses to the multi-faceted requirements of our City’s poor.
We must be more efficient and effective in our poverty alleviation programs. Information technology must be engaged as a tool to create a comprehensive data base that will help us better ensure that resources allotted for these programs are effectively utilized for tailor-fit responses that have maximum impact on targeted beneficiaries. Our revitalized Anti-Poverty Task Force will begin developing this data base this year, as well as link this to the National Government’s National Household Targeting System for Poverty Reduction.
COMPREHENSIVE AND WELL-RATIONALIZED RESETTLEMENT PROGRAMS
Our City has a large shelter backlog; more than 200,000 families are informal settlers. We must have a significant and sustainable housing program. But the City must not become a doormat for informal settlers. We, officials, must work together to prevent new intrusions. All of us must make it our responsibility to prevent illegal structures, because it compromises the rest of our constituents and puts these informal settlers at risk for their own lives as well. Our barangay officials should remember that the UDHA law, or Republic Act 7279, holds them directly accountable if they aid, abet or simply look the other way while informal settlers begin setting up their dwelling areas illegally in their areas of jurisdiction.
I have created a Special Task Force to focus and facilitate City government efforts on socialized housing and the development of blighted areas. Because housing requires tremendous City investments, public-private partnerships must figure strongly in all our housing developments, so that the cost burden can be more equitably shared and the mission of social responsibility can be complementarily achieved.
During my incumbency as Vice Mayor, I authorized the deduction of PhP18.5 million from my funds in favor of the National Housing Authority for the development of the National Government Center Eastside Housing Project on Commonwealth Avenue. This amount, which was turned over in July, will cover the cost of processing the subdivision plans and reblocking of some 22,000 urban poor families who have been long time residents in the area.
An ordinance passed by the city council last 26 October 2009 eased the grant of the appropriation, which was also needed to facilitate the processing and transfer of land titles to the qualified beneficiaries.
MORE EFFICIENT, MORE PEOPLE-RESPONSIVE HEALTH CARE
Affordable health care is another basic need. Three aspects need improvement: people, medicines/equipment, and facilities. Doctors, nurses and other public health practitioners may forget that the healing process begins from their attitudes to poor patients. The same caring attitude must be given to patients who can afford to pay, as those who cannot. Public health after all, is a chosen profession; those who choose it should not be grudging in practicing it.
Another aspect are medicines and equipment. Let us ensure that medicines ordered and delivered are speedily and efficiently distributed. Putting needless layers of bureaucracy in medicine distribution and dispensation should be a crime.
We have to modernize the operations of our public health care system. Using the benefits of information technology will enable us to better monitor inventories, patients, types of diseases attended to, actual consumption of resources as they occur, as well as obtain objective measurements of efficiencies in attending to health needs of how many of our poor constituents. For this purpose, let us use capitation from PhilHealth to fund equipment needs, and less on personnel services, since our people have already benefited from several rounds of benefits.
Our senior citizens are another of our publics that we must care for. When I was Vice Mayor, I pushed for the ordinance that provided for our elderly, special lanes in supermarkets and other commercial establishments, as well as for the strict compliance of Quezon City buildings and facilities with the Accessibility Law. Now, our elderly are also covered by GSIS accident insurance policies and are entitled to two free movies a day in Quezon City theaters. We continue our special treatment of the City’s centenarians who are given a cash gift of P10,000 upon reaching 100 years, and P1,000 allowance every month for anything they need.
The men and women of this City are all our active and equal partners in governance, especially so since Quezon City is a pioneer in the enactment of the Gender and Development Code.
STRONG, CONSISTENT EXECUTIVE-LEGISLATIVE PARTNERSHIPS
As a continuing gesture of partnership with the City Council, I am making the meetings of the Executive - Legislative Branches a regular feature of this Administration, so we can improve symbiosis in policy objectives and thrusts. Let us work together to define more clearly our roadmap to greater growth, while making sure that more of our constituents participate and benefit gainfully from this growth.
Let us take care of the physical aspects of our City, as much as we attend to the welfare of our citizens. The overall growth and rational development of Quezon City is important to sustaining it as a livable city. In the past year, members of the City Council took an active part in crafting Quezon City’s Comprehensive Development Plan.
Proposed legislative action:
1. By the end of this year, we will have completed the long process of formulating our new Land Use Plan, which is expected to update our City’s planning standards to those adopted by well-planned cities abroad. It shall more effectively address the problems of modern urban growth such as urban sprawl, traffic congestion, high population migration to cities, and sustainable waterways. It shall be more consistent with the overall development thrusts of the city, as enunciated in the Comprehensive Development Plan. For this new CLUP, I will request the Council’s active endorsement.
2. We would also like to work with our legislators in strengthening our local laws to improve the management of our environment. With the Climate Change Act of 2009 or RA 9729 as guide, we can come up with complementary local policies that can reduce our carbon footprint through better planning of our transportation and traffic management systems, as well as increase pedestrianization, and promote a more orderly city.
3. Quezon City has many areas where the environment can be kept clean, green and blue, with stricter enforcement of environmental laws for land, water and air. I am thinking of the La Mesa Dam, the University of the Philippines campus and its surroundings, as well as other areas towards the north of Quezon City. Can we declare these as NIPAS or National Integrated Protected Areas, so that the structures, facilities and resource use in these areas follow stricter environmental standards? This will allow them to become viable zones of health and wellness, as well as retirement and urban fitness villages.
4. We must also face the reality that the specter of global recession has not disappeared. We must continue to strengthen our economic environment to better resist adversity. We need a viable Investment Incentives Plan that will enable the City to attract desirable economic activities that will multiply exponentially its productive capacities. Complementary to this will be a Tourism Development Plan that will provide a well-rationalized guide for enterprise growth in this industry, tapping local and global partners.
5. Let us craft local laws that will encourage more to develop socialized housing communities in Quezon City. One way of ensuring our housing stock is through a supplementary local law to the UDHA or the Urban Development and Housing Act, which will require developers of housing lands in our City to use their mandated 20% allocation for socialized housing to lots situated in Quezon City.
6. Because of the tremendous investments required in developing new resettlement sites, let us explore what local incentives can be given to encourage greater private participation and contribution to low-cost housing programs.
7. Another challenge is revenue generation. As we gain greater efficiencies in collection, let us keep an eye out for other revenue sources. Keeping our City clean entails a huge drain on our City funds, as much as P54.3 million a month or P651 million a year. In many cities, citizens participate in the garbage collection effort by willingly paying fees and charges. Let us explore this option.
8. We have discussed redistricting, knowing full well that a city as densely populated and as large as ours should merit commensurate representation in Congress. Increasing the number of our councilors would have mean added demands on budget, as it will mean more salaries, other funding allocations, as well as office and other facilities spaces. Let us study more intensively, the full impact of redistricting, so we are well prepared to propose a viable law.
Conclusion
My partners in governance, we have before us the expanse of a beautiful city, full of potential and opportunities. What will happen to Quezon City in the next three years is in our hands. It will rise and soar, if we lay down the framework of programs and policies that will enable it to do so.
But the job is not easy. Constantly, we will be subject to the push and pull of conflicting interests, of divergent priorities, of resource limitations.
Pero tumakbo tayo nung eleksyon dahil mahal natin ang ating lungsod. Iyan na ang makakapag-ugnay at magbibigay ng matatag na batayan ng ating mga iba’t ibang hangarin. Bigyan natin ng kaginhawaan ang ating mga kababayan. Palakasin natin sila upang kaya nilang iangat ang kanilang sarili. Tanyag na ang Quezon City; kaya pa nating pagyabungin ito. Ituloy natin ang pag-unlad, pagsasaayos; alagaan natin na ang Quezon City ay ipinagkakapuri, hindi lang dito sa Pilipinas, maging sa Asia.
Ipakita nating lahat kung gaano nating kamahal ang Quezon City!
