Tribute given to outgoing Baguio mayor Domogan

By Dionisio Dennis, Jr. and Argielynne Gem Ramos

BAGUIO CITY -- City government employees, the private sector, and residents paid tribute to the “invaluable contribution” of outgoing Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who served the city for more than 30 years in different positions.

 “He is known as the 'janitor', the city’s longest-serving executive, 30 years, who led us all in the city to make Baguio rise again and progress,” said Association of City Executives (ACEx) president and budget officer Leticia Clemente during the tribute.

Domogan was cited for leading the people of Baguio in rising from the 1990 quake devastation.

“All the departments have been very supportive of his advocacies and programs as they would and will always do for all administration before or after him. He too reciprocated, the reason why there were many innovations that have taken off the ground sustaining good public services at all times,” Clemente said.

Domogan joined the city government as councilor from 1998 to 1992.

In the 1992 polls, he ran and won as vice mayor but it did not take a day before he was appointed as OIC-mayor after the Commission on Elections issued a disqualification order against former mayor Ramon “Jun” Labo due to questions on his citizenship.

He served as city mayor from 1992 to 2001; congressman from 2001 to 2010 and back as mayor from 2010 to present.

“We have seen the best in local governance from what maybe termed as the Domogan lens, proven by the numerous awards that the city has received thru him, notably the cleanest and greenest city where the city won in three consecutive years thus attaining its hall of fame status. The child-friendly city award, ten next wave cities in ICT, presidential ‘Gawad Pamana’ award, top 20 in the cities competitiveness evaluation, seal of good governance and many more,” Clemente said.

It was during his three consecutive terms as city mayor when Baguio opened doors to various global platforms, counting the city as one of the pioneer signatories in globally sanctioned sustained development declarations in the Asia-Pacific region.

Clemente cited the Asian Development Bank-initiated sustainable water integrated management, which paved the way for the crafting of the first Water Code in Southeast Asia where Baguio City and Domogan were declared as “water champions”.

The United Nations program on Cities for clean energy and clean air program helped the city craft Baguio’s clean air ordinance, which led to the establishment of the roadside inspection, testing and monitoring of vehicle emissions.

“Despite public resistance, we have sustained its implementation as our local commitment to contribute to improved health and achieve better air quality,” Clemente said.

She added that Clean Air Asia has pledged to support the city’s implementation of its clean air initiatives and give its support to help the technical staff enhance their skills to achieve better air quality.

“Because of this single sustained activity of the city, we are one of four cities in Asia given a recognition as a city for clean air and we are waiting for technical assistance for the formulation of a new city clean air action plan," she said.

The program gave the city the ticket to be enrolled in the Breathlife network that also engaged the Health Service Office to help monitor the health impacts of air pollution.

Baguio was one of the two Philippine cities, which were signatories of the Happy City Declaration in Suwon, South Korea in 2017 that aimed to help cities realign their current social development programs to enhance the happiness index of constituents based on globally set parameters.

Domogan has also touched lives in his 30 years of service.

Dr. Elmer Fabito, medical officer III at the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) in a video-taped testimony talked about his becoming a doctor, which was made possible through the full scholarship from Domogan.

"The scholarship program was indeed a great help to us beneficiaries because it eases the burden of our parents, families who are doing all means just to send us to school," he said.

Regional Development Council co-chairman Milagros Rimando also shared how Domogan inspired other local chief executives to attend the meetings of the highest policy-making body of the region, which in the early years was impossible considering the distance of the different provinces in the Cordillera region.

Dr. Virgilio Bautista, a former member of the Constitutional Commission created by President Rodrigo R. Duterte to review the 1987 Constitution and who also hails from Baguio, also presented a token from the private citizens of the city and thanked the mayor for his services.

Domogan lost in the May midterm polls in his bid for a congressional seat representing Baguio, ending his three decades of continuous service in the country’s summer capital. -- PNA