COTABATO CITY --- This city government gears for another
challenging year following the State of the City Address (SOCA) of Mayor Atty.
Frances Cynthia J. Guiani-Sayadi last January 30 held at the CityMall
Convention Center.
Mayor Guiani said that year 2017 was a very
productive and wonderful year for Cotabato City with dozens of infrastructure
improvements, investors coming in, employment rates increasing, and peace and
order stability, among others.
"The annual budget of the city
government for the year 2017 was P872,142.927.00. This was 14.24 percent higher
than our 2016 annual budget. For this year, our annual budget is
P935,815,256.00. We are optimistic that we will break the one billion mark next
year," Mayor Guiani said.
The lady mayor said that with the budget,
48.35 percent goes to General Public Services, 26 percent is allotted for
Economic Services, and 20.59 percent for Health, Social Services and Welfare.
There is also 0.05 percent for Disaster Risk Reduction and Management and 0.2
percent for aid to the barangays.
Further, Mayor Guiani was proud to report
that the city has posted the biggest percentage increase in income, saying:
"22.79 percent increase in income last year is the highest in the history
of the city".
"Real property tax collection rose by
3.47 percent; business tax collection increased by 22.52 percent; the City
Arcade posted an increased income of 21.48 percent; the Mega Market posted an
increase of 53.53 percent; and, the biggest increase is the City
Slaughterhouse, both the hog and the halal slaughterhouse, which posted an
increased income of 122.25 percent. The influx of investors that we have
experienced last year was brought about by the huge improvement in our peace
and order situation. Some 1.2 billion pesos worth of new investments came in
last year which resulted in the direct job generation for 1,250
Cotabateños," she emphasized.
As part of the modernization program, Mayor
Guiani said the computerized Business Permit and Licensing System or BPLS is
now fully operational.
"From the usual five to seven days
processing period, before the computerization, Business Permits and Licenses
can now be released in two hours or less, provided that all the requirements
are complete. Our computerization program is not only limited in the BPLS. It
encompasses all of the major operations of the city Government of
Cotabato," she stressed.
Mayor Guiani was thrilled when she announced
that soon "we will see a new kind of traffic signaling system in Cotabato
City."
She said they have entered into a Memorandum
of Agreement with the Information Technology and Business Solutions Corporation
for the establishment of the so-called Integrated Public Advisory and Analysis
Display Solution or IPAAD.
Further, she added, the City Engineering
Office was able to complete dozens of infrastructure projects last year. Aside
from projects funded out of local funds, the city government is also a
recipient of assistance from various national government agencies.
On the issue of public health in Cotabato
City in 2017, Mayor Guiani claimed that the health well-being of Cotabateňos
remained fairly well in 2017.
On the other hand, the city government
tied-up with the Metro Cotabato Water District (MCWD) for the establishment of
the City Septage Management Project by 2018 at the old Malagapas Dumpsite.
"This is an 80-million peso project
designed to collect all household septage for processing and proper disposal.
Under the plan, the Department of Public works and Highways, through the
National Sewerage and Septage Management Program, will shoulder 50-percent of
the project cost. The remaining 50-percent will be shared equally by the MCWD
and the city government," she said.
In the delivery of social services to the
people, with 65 Day Care workers or child development workers and 17 Supervised
Neighborhood Play Volunteers, the city government’s Child Development Program
has increased its capacity to serve pre-school children by about 8.7 percent
from 3,277 in 2016 to 3,561 in 2017.
Also, the special program for 40 street-based
working children under the Millennium Development Goal-Family based Actions for
Children in the Slum and their Environs (MDG-FACES) was initiated this year
with the distribution of starter production kits to the mothers of the
concerned children.
Tourism
On the aspect of tourism, she said the City
Tourism and Trade and Industry Office continue to live up to its purpose of
marketing, branding, promoting, and developing tourism and trade industry in
the city.
"For 2017, it came up with a series of
events and activities that have truly helped boost the tourism promotion of
Cotabato City. As a result, there were 359,018 tourist arrivals in Cotabato
City in 2017 – an increase of more than 14,000 tourists compared to 2016. There
are 250 Cotabateños who have successfully passed and graduated from trainings
that the City Tourism, Trade and Industry have organized and more than 100
MSMEs and establishments have been strengthened," the lady mayor said.
Last January 26, a ground-breaking ceremony
took place for the project which aims to revitalize the PC Hill, particularly
the area facing Sinsuat Avenue. It is dubbed as the "Shine KutangBato
Project."
"The project is funded by the Department
of Tourism and will involve the painting of the roofing and façade of the
houses in the area. The painting is of rainbow design with symbols representing
Cotabato City like our crabs, gongs, and the guinakit. Also included in the
project is the putting up of a viewing deck at the fly-over at Barangay Rosary
Heights 2. Our Cotabato City Tourism Promotion Board is our partner in
promoting the project and inviting more tourists to come and visit our
city," Mayor Guiani said.
Peace &
security
On the issue of peace and order, Mayor Guiani
said it is noteworthy that despite the volatile situation in other provinces
surrounding the city, there had been no reported threats posed by any criminal
elements on the peace and stability of the city.
She said the consistent and effective
implementation of the different counter measures on security such as the Ronda Patrol
played a very important role in the prevention of crime and deterrence against
possible terroristic acts.
"As a matter of fact, the PNP Regional
Office-12 has recognized that our Ronda Patrol is a very effective anti-crime
mechanism and has been identified as one of the best practices of our city
government and local law enforcers. In view of this, the PNP Regional Office-12
will be adopting our Ronda Patrol as a template for other local government
units in Region-12," she added.
Meanwhile, it was learned that the number of
index crimes committed last year was only 440 as compared to the 2016 record of
963 or a drop of 45.69 percent. In the campaign against illegal drugs, the
Cotabato City Police Office conducted a total of 12 anti-illegal drugs operations
resulting in the arrest of 15 persons.
Records from the PNP Regional Office-12
showed that, among the five major police offices in the region, the Cotabato
City Police Office posted the biggest drop in the number of both index and
non-index crimes last year.
"The Cotabato City Police Office posted
a high 46-percent decrease. Coming in second to us is the Sultan Kudarat Police
Office with 23-percent or just half of what we have accomplished. General
Santos City posted the lowest crime reduction of only two-percent. In simple
words, Cotabato City is the safest place in Region-12,” Mayo Guiani claimed.
Mayor Guiani stressed that peace and order
stability is a very important factor in the performance of duties and
responsibilities to the constituents and it also assures the accomplishment of
our programs and projects for our people.
"This is a reason why we will be putting
up, in a couple of months, the city’s Command Center. It will manage and
oversee the security operations in the city. It will also be the central
coordinating center of all law enforcement units in the city, including our
City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Center and the Public Safety
Office. The center, which will be situated at the back of the People’s Palace,
will be manned 24/7," she said.
(GILMHAR A. LAO & ANNE ACOSTA- MINDANAO EXPOSE’)
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