Baguio City officials chart programs for next 3 years

By Aileen P. Refuerzo

BAGUIO CITY -- City executives and legislators led by Mayor Benjamin Magalong and Vice Mayor Faustino Olowan have begun mapping out thrusts of the city government in the next three years in a workshop held July 11-12 with the theme, “Unifying Governance through Diversity.”
    The activity was in preparation for the formulation of the Executive-Legislative Agenda (ELA) that will chart the city’s developmental direction for 2023-2025. 
     The session opened with the presentation of the 16-point agenda as the platform of governance by Magalong.  The core agenda had been narrowed down to 7 after some of the thrusts were combined.
    Olowan followed with his report on the accomplishments and goals of the legislative department.
    City Planning and Development Officer Donna Tabangin tackled the thrusts towards achieving a livable city and green recovery.
     The two-day activity delved on reports on the achievement, status and ways forward of each of the executive clusters followed by workshops.
     The financial cluster covering the offices of the City Budget, City Treasury and City Accountant report was rendered by City Budget Officer Leticia Clemente while the report of the social services cluster composed of the offices of the City Social Welfare and Development, General Services, Health Services, City Veterinary and Agriculture, Civil Registry, Philippine National Police and Bureau of Jail Management and Penology was facilitated by City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo.
     City Environment and Parks Management Officer Rhenan Diwas led presentation of the infrastructure and physical development cluster composed of the CEPMO and offices of the City Building and Architecture, City Engineering, City Planning and Development and City Assessors.
    The report of the institutional development sector (City Human Resource and Management and City Administrator’s offices) was handled by the City Administrator Bonifacio Dela Peña and the tourism development plan was presented by City Tourism Operations Officer Aloysius Mapalo.
    The outputs will be the basis in firming up the ELA in the succeeding sessions.
    Magalong earlier said the development program will focus on speeding up the city’s economic recovery and addressing the city’s environmental challenges.