ILOILO City – Effective leadership that inspires all in a local government to work together spells excellent local governance. This has been proven true in this city.
For the second time in his two consecutive terms, Mayor Jerry Treñas is again the regional winner of the Civil Service Commission’s (CSC) Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award for high-impact government service.
The Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award is conferred to individuals or groups with exceptional or extraordinary contributions that have nationwide impact.
Treñas paid tribute to men and women of the Iloilo City Government.
“As mayor, I can only do so much. But if all departments and offices work together, we can do a lot,” he said.
The award, he said, is a recognition of the unity of purpose of all those working in the city government
“We have a very supportive city council. I am also very lucky that most of the department heads want to improve their services,” said Treñas.
The CSC recognized two more in the city government – City Environment and Natural Resources Office head Engr. Neil Ravena (regional Dangal ng Bayan Award) and the City Health Office-Calumpang Birthing Center (PAGASA Award).
In 2021, Treñas bestowed the Lingkod Bayan Award for delivering exceptional public service despite the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The city government under his steering came up with revolutionary programs and projects such as the very successful Uswag Community Kitchen, among others, that harnessed the bayanihan spirit of the Ilonggos, not letting the pandemic get in the way.
TOP PERFORMING CITY MAYOR
Complementing Treñas’ CSC award is another citation – Top 1 best performing city mayor in Western Visayas, also for the second time, based on the RP-Mission and Development Foundation, Inc. (RPMD) job performance survey.
Treñas got a job performance rating of 86.7 percent to top the list of 12 local chief executives in RPMD’s survey conducted from June 25 to July 8, 2023.
He also topped the March survey with 82.9 percent score.
The “Top Western Visayas City Mayors” survey is a component of the “Boses ng Bayan”, a comprehensive evaluation of the performance of public officials using face-to-face interviews with a total of 10,000 respondents. It independently highlighted the highest-performing public officials, providing an objective snapshot of public administration in the region.
According to RMPD, the performance assessments for city mayors in the country consider various metrics such as Economic Development, Public Safety and Order, Health and Social Services, Infrastructure Development, Education Improvement, as well as Good Governance.
ALL FOR ILONGGOS
Treñas’ development agenda for Iloilo City since coming back as local chief executive in 2019 is anchored on his priority program WHEELS which focuses on Welfare, Health, Education, Environment, Livelihood and Sustainability.
The city government embarked on various high-impact projects which generate jobs, livelihood and investment opportunities; promote local tourism and fight climate change; and answer the city residents’ medical needs, especially of the indigent, among others.
This include the redevelopment of public plazas and public markets including the two biggest markets – the Iloilo Central and Terminal markets; the establishment of the Iloilo City Action and Response (ICARE) command centers, dialysis centers, laboratory and diagnostic centers, Iloilo City Hospital and daycare centers; and sustainable environmental projects such as massive tree planting, establishment of tree parks networks and flower gardens, and regular river clean up, among others, usually in partnership with the private sector.
These past four years, the city government and Treñas reaped several awards and recognitions. These included the Seal of Good Local Governance, Galing Pook Award for Bike Culture, Bike Lanes Award, Most Improved and Most Government Efficient Highly Urbanized City, and Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management, and ASEAN’s Clean Tourist City Award.
Iloilo has also been recognized as the “Most Business-Friendly City” by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The citation boosts the city’s position as a top investments hubs./PN
