RLK BPRP Anniversary Data (Unedited)

 

Last August 24, the Revolution Against Poverty celebrated its 6th Anniversary. This Revolution was declared by the former Mayor of Bayambang, Dr. Cezar T. Quiambao in front of the statue of Dr. Jose Rizal on August 27, 2017. On June 30, 2022, the very first woman Mayor of the town promised to continue the revolution declared by the former mayor.

The OIC of the Office of the Municipal Administrator Atty. Bayani B. Brillante Jr. gave his inspirational words wherein he shared that more than one thousand of 4Ps members already graduated where he encouraged everyone to do their best and be an inspiration for the remaining 4Ps members to also improve their way of living and soon be a 4PS graduate also. This wouldn't be possible without the collaborative efforts of everyone.

Atty. Brillante said, "We are here to help, but we ask you to help yourselves also. We will make and win this revolution together."

In a simple program as part of the Quarterly Municipal Advisory Committee meeting, the DSWD RO1 Municipal Links team Mr. John Christopher Rosquita and Ms. Roxanne Torio along with Ms. Jemalyn Labarejos, Ms. Joyce Salinas, and Ms. Kimberly Aquino gave an update regarding the 4Ps and Sustainable Livelihood Program beneficiaries right after the message of Atty. Brillante.

This was followed by a simple message from Vice-Mayor Ian Camille Sabangan. VM Sabangan said, "It is true that the town has come this far just because of having a leader who truly cares to raise the standard of living of every Bayambangueño. This is also because of the wonderful initiative that shows the unity and dedication of everyone."

Through a video, Mayor Niña Jose-Quiambao also delivered an inspirational message. MNJQ said, "This revolution was declared by our former Mayor, Dr. Cezar Quiambao to end the poverty in Bayambang and it plays a vital role in the improvements and progress here in town. Poverty hinders quality education, better jobs, better status in the health sector, and others. This revolution will help our fellow Bayambangueños to improve their way of living, the revolution against poverty. We are not going to stop achieving our dream, and that is to make every family have a monthly income for at least 15,000 or more before the year 2028 comes. This will only be possible with the cooperation of everyone. We are not doing this for ourselves, but we are doing this for the future of the next generations."

Right after the video message, Dr. Saygo took the microphone and proceeded to the discussion.

The Bayambang Poverty Reduction Action Team headed by Dr. Rafael L. Saygo gave an update about the status of the Revolution Against Poverty. He presented the reports from the different offices who are helping in this revolution.

He started it with stressing out how he thinks about the future generation, and how was the town that the future generation will have.

He illustrated it with his knowledge about the professionals here in the municipality that he knew such as nurses, and teachers including the manicurist and pedicurist who are going abroad to work and provide for their families. And the questions that keep on running on his mind are: Why are they doing this? What are the reasons? Why are they leaving their loved ones?

“If everyone had the opportunity to have a better job here in our country, then they would still be here and at the same time provide for their families,” he added.

He then started his discussion regarding Recurrent Poverty and Generational Poverty which are according to him, is difficult to end. However, the Government, private sector, Non-Government Organizations, CSOs, business associations, and 4Ps members, will contribute and empower every member of the community, and through the collaborative efforts of the entire community, not only the LGU, then rest assured that they will overcome and win this revolution.

Dr. Saygo also said that he doesn't personally think that there will be a time when the record 4Ps in Bayambang will ever fall to zero, or if this happens, as one of the goals of the revolution, then it is expected to have a zero number of poor family in Bayambang which is really difficult to achieve. According to PSA, there should be a 15K monthly income for every 5 members of the family to say that they are no longer considered as poor.

Based on the PSA survey in 2018, the Bayambang population has only 118,205 and has an increased up to 129,011 as of August 24, 2023. But, based on the record of RCBMS/BHWs, a total of 151,710 is being recorded.

In terms of poverty incidence in the whole country, it is recorded that there is a total of 21% poor in 2018 and had an increase of up to 23.7% or 24% in 2023. In Region 1 data, it ranges from 11% to 20%, and in the Province of Pangasinan, it ranges from 14% to 23.6%.

Based on the PSA data, these are the number of poor in the town of Bayambang, a total of 26.16% poor in the year 2018 and 35.06% in 2023.

The PSA data is based on the threshold. For example, when one (1) family with 5 members has an income of 10,802 or higher in the year 2018, they are considered rich, but when this family has an income of 10,801 below, they will be considered poor. When the pandemic and inflation came, the town achieved the poverty threshold particularly in the province of Pangasinan wherein at present, for every 5 members of the family, they must have an income of 15,534. The pandemic has had a big impact.

There are 5 sectors of the revolution, and these are the basis to say that the town is improving and providing a good living for every Bayambangueño.

·       Socio-cultural development and social protection,

·       Agricultural modernization

·       Economic and infrastructure development

·       Environmental protection and disaster Resiliency

·       Good Governance.

 

1. SOCIO-CULTURAL DEVELOPMENT AND SOCIAL PROTECTION

When the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Plan (BPRP) has been implemented, a total of 317,148,285.70 had already spent in the health sector. The said budget is allocated for six (6) Rural Health Units with ninety-two (92) Healthcare Personnel, and three (3) Doctors. Two of these RHUs (RHU I and II) are now providing free laboratory services and free birthing services while the RHU III is just waiting for the certification to officially start providing the same services. By this, in the health sector, every Bayambangueño now has a chance to have access to healthcare services.

So, this means that the revolution is paying attention to the health of every Bayambangueño and a healthy Bayambangueño is a sign of a rich town. Except for the RHU, a lot of Bayambangueño already received medical, dental, surgical, and optical missions since the year 2019 to 2023. A total of 23,970 beneficiaries catered and about 54,038,213.40 worth of services have been rendered for free.

In 2018, there were teenage pregnancy cases recorded with a total of 344, but as of June 2023, only 90 were recorded. According to the research of the students from Pangasinan State University (PSU), one of the reasons for teenage pregnancy is because of financial problems or poverty in a family. Number two is that some of the parents encouraged their children and allow them to be a mistress just to have money. This can be considered a generational poverty and it is alarming.

Dr. Saygo calls the attention of parents, and the members of the academe and remind them that if they can't raise a child then do not make one.

Also, Dr. Saygo made an appeal to the youth, student leaders, organizational officers of PSU, and student nurses who were present at the event to use the example presented to them as motivation to not engage themselves in the same situation and encourage their fellow youth to do the same.

The data of Nutritional Status of children were also reported as follows:

In 2017, a total of 13.5% stunting rate, and in 2023, a total of 4.4% wasting rate of 0 to 50 months.

In 2022, there is 6.1% wasting or malnourished but now there is only 1.3%. This is because of the MNAO, RHUs, and BHWs in securing this program.

From 2015 to 2016, before the start of the revolution against poverty, Bayambang was reported to have the highest number of malnourished youths in the entire Region 1. But as of 2023, the Municipal Nutrition Action Office (MNAO) was judged as the most outstanding MNAO in Region 1. This proves that the health sector is doing fine.

 The JKQ hospital will also be opened in January 2024, and as promised by the mayor, the hospital will be accessible to all Bayambangueños especially those who are struggling with finances. There will be an office where one of the town's doctors will provide a free consultation so that every Bayambangueño can also use the world-class facilities using their universal health care program or their PhilHealth.

Still, the BPRAT and other concerned offices are continuously paying attention to health sectors as Tuberculosis, HIV, and Dengue cases are increasing including COVID-19 in which the ones who are getting the virus are those who do not have booster shots. These are some of the things that RHU, MNAO, and BHW will focus on in the coming seasons so that they can ensure a healthy Bayambang and Bayambangueños as they believe that Health is wealth.

 

PEACE AND ORDER

In 2016, before the revolution started, there were 455 recorded crime rates, but as of June 2023, there are only 97 crime rates recorded in the town.

There are already 8 committee police precincts, 100 installed CCTV cameras, and the strong collaboration of the BPSO and police of the town.

One of the very problematic areas of difficulty in the town is Unemployment. Based on the BHW 2023 survey, they recorded a total of 26,158 unemployed in the town of Bayambang, those aged from 18 to 55 years old.

Also, there is a total of 7,897 beneficiaries of TUPAD from 2019 to 2023 and 5,859 job fair applicants from 2019 to 2023 that was organized by PESO Bayambang. It is expected that the town will have a monthly or quarterly job fair that will be managed by PESO.

Out of the 26,158 unemployed, more than 50% have seasonal jobs. They are not officially employed but were given seasonal jobs and is commonly referred as “on call” workers. Dr. Saygo called the attention of PESO, headed by Ms. Gernalyn Santos to encourage more domestic and international job fair here in Bayambang just to reduce the unemployment rate. He then encouraged everyone to not be choosy in finding a job. If there is an opportunity, then they better grab it.

Also, he called the attention of the municipal link, spiritual leaders, members of the academe, and parents, to cooperate in changing the mindset of the youth. The senior citizens who are also present have been mentioned to use their experiences of hardship, so they can tell their story to the youth which will serve as learnings and motivation.

 

EDUCATION SECTOR

From 2016 to 2023, a total of 64,496,689.23 has been given by the municipality to the education sector using the collection from the real property tax. Another source of fund for the education sector came from the donated salary of former mayor and current mayor with a total of 8,413,477.29 and is being divided in to fifty (50) public elementary schools, nine (9) public high schools, and two (2) colleges.

In 2019, there was an 89.75% participation rate which reflects the number of the young people or school-age pupils and students who are attending school, but because of the cooperation of everyone, from SY 2021 to 2023, there is already a 99.88% rate.

On the other hand, there is 1.95% to 1.99% or 2% of the total number of students who are dropping out which is very alarming.

Dr. Saygo once again appealed to all the parents to have a strong will to support their children in their studies no matter what so they would not be able to have the same fate as their parents who did not get a college degree.

He told them that the PSU is still offering a free tuition and miscellaneous fees. There is also the BPC which offers the same services and is expecting to cater more than 518 students by September.

Furthermore, Dr. Saygo emphasized the global learning poverty or the poverty in the education sector according to the data on the state of Global Learning Poverty (World Bank,2022), wherein the Philippines has the highest learning poverty with a 91%. The Philippines is also recorded with a high number of learning deprivation where the young people did not have a chance to study.

Learning poverty is the number of young people who do not know how to read and write and has a low reading comprehension. 1 out of 6 students in public elementary schools can read and understand what he/she is reading, and 1 out of 6 public school students does not know Math.

Especially during the pandemic, the students had a hard time studying. There are also cases of students who just graduated in High School but was identified to be illiterate.

The attention of the members of the academe, DepEd, public school, district supervisors, and teachers was once again being called for them to have a closer look on the education right now as the curriculum of grades 1 to 10 may once again change soon.

Based on the discussion of the DSWD Municipal Links, Dr. Saygo proceeded with the presentation with the data about the students under 4Ps.

From the year 2016 to 2022, there were 2,178 who graduated from the 4Ps which is the highest record in the entire Region 1.

After his presentation, he did not forget to remind everyone about the Bayambang emergency hotlines wherein there are more than 10,000 patients served from the year 2017 to 2023 which is also another evidence of the LGUs quality service. He also shared the good news from the BPSO regarding the 3 ambulance drivers who have been congratulated by the Malacañang after being reported by some citizens who introduce themselves as satisfied clients. This shows that the LGU employees are serious about helping and providing a total quality service to every Bayambangueño.

 

2. AGRICULTURAL MODERNIZATION

The Average Age of farmers here in Bayambang is 57 years old and in three years’ time will be considered as senior citizens. These farmers can no longer farm and could not take good care of their animals and crops anymore for their strength weren’t the same as they old.

It's also alarming that a farmer's average income with one hectare of farmland only earns 5,000 to 7,000.

And it is really devastating knowing the fact that the farmers who are planting food are also the ones who barely eat.

With this, he encouraged the youth to consider taking the Agribusiness course that the BPC is offering. So far, a total of 200 students were enrolled in the said course.

There are also 312 enrolled farmers in Field School but most of them are not using what they have learned from it and keep using their traditional way of farming.

In the Agricultural sector, he said that they will make sure to have inland fisheries. As of now, there is an 8km tributary creek. He then called the attention of the Engineering Office after noticing the discrepancy between the documented 8km tributary creek with the actual accomplishment which is only 2km of the inland fisheries has been tilled.

There is also the hatchery where they are just waiting for the release number of accreditation in BFAR.

They have also recorded a total of 388 farm machinery for agricultural modernization that were donated by government agencies and private concern citizens who are helping to speed up the planting.

E-AGRO (NUMBER OF FARMERS AVAILED LOAN)

2,663 farmers availed of loans in E-AGRO but a total of 10% or 263 numbers of farmers still didn't pay the loan.

There is also a 10M Grant from the Department of Agriculture for the municipality's swine project to revive the livestock industry. This will be managed by the Special Economic Enterprise (SEE) led by Atty. Melinda Rose Fernandez.

Dr. Saygo said, "Aside from this, last night (August 23), I received a call from a friend from Abono Party List, and through the letters sent by our dear mayor, the Abono Party list will arrive with the Department of Agriculture tomorrow (August 25) to give us a free grant to make our slaughterhouse become a Double-A. When our slaughterhouse becomes Double-A, some of our Muslim friends can also get Halal Certified there."

Based on the Agriculture Infrastructure Projects, the Pantol to San Gabriel 2nd farm-to-market road with 1 bridge is already at 67%. The municipality, led by Mayor Niña will continue this project with another grant worth 500M that the town will be receiving from the PRDP World Bank. This is for the construction of a 6.2km road and two bridges so that it will only consist of 15 minutes of travel from San Gabriel 2nd to Pantol.

Dr. Saygo shared that yesterday (August 23), the Department of Agriculture visited the town and validated the cold storage that may be owned by the LGU. There are 20,000 bags capacity which will be built for 40M pesos. This became possible because of the consistent sending of letters of the mayor. They will also build cold storage with a capacity of 120,000 bags, which means that the onion and other products farmers can use cold storage here in Bayambang for cheaper rent.

Also, the irrigation that the town’s hoping for from The National Irrigation Authority will start its operation before the end of this year which will provide free irrigation to the (22) barangays in areas having a scarcity of water. It will start in Brgy. Amancosiling Norte and Buayaen.

When it comes to the existing cooperatives in the municipality, there are 26 active cooperatives but 16 of them are noncompliant and only 10 are compliant. So, he asked for the cooperation of Municipal Cooperative Development Officer, Mr. Albert Lapurga to check on this matter and also called the attention of all the members of farmers' cooperatives together with their presidents wherein most of the non-compliant cooperatives are from them.

Dr. Saygo said, "You know it's a dream of the LGU to buy the needs of the municipality from you. Because the cooperative is free, the tax is zero, so it is expected that you are going to sell your products at a cheaper price. The MSWDO and MDR always need rice, but they still buy it from private retailers. You are farmers’ cooperatives and you can sell rice to the municipality."

He also said to the farmers that if they are having difficulty with financial statements, they can go to the municipality and have a free consultation regarding this matter. “Hopefully, there will be food in the agriculture sector,” Dr. Saygo added. The town of Bayambang is an agricultural town and almost 35% of the population of the town are farmers.

He even challenged all the farmers’ cooperative presidents especially those who owned land where it is possible to grow tobacco. He told them to consider planting tobacco for it has a high opportunity to earn more profit and the Municipal Agriculture Office (MAO), and Bayambang Poverty Reduction Action Team (BPRAT) are willing to help them. If the farmers accept this challenge, maybe they will have a gift of a cow from the municipality after harvesting their crops. They will have a free cow from Ma'am Zyra Orpiano, so he encouraged every farmer to plant tobacco.

 

3. ECONOMIC AND INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT

There is an increase in the LGU Budget from the year 2015 which is P206M  to P556M in the year 2023.

Based on the data, there is also a decrease in the budget in the year 2023 (P556M) from year 2022 (P651M), because the national government reduced the national allocation. This poses a big challenge to the municipality, because it inevitably means many services will have reduced budgets.

Dr. Saygo called the attention of entrepreneurs as they still have 465 stalls and 629 spaces in the public market, and there are still many vacancies for those who want to avail of the vacancies.

In the number of registered businesses, there is a total of 210 new registered entities as of June 2023, then a total of 1,291 entities that renewed their business.

Based on the data presented, one of the observations of BPRAT is the boundaries of the town to others.  The boundary of Bayambang to Basista, the boundary of Bayambang to Bautista, the boundary of Bayambang to Camiling, and the boundary of Bayambang to Urbiztondo, towns have many business establishments compared to the town of Bayambang.

He calls the attention of MPDC and BPLO to encourage more investors. He even thinks that maybe what they are asking the investors is too demanding, and that's why they go to other towns to build a business. He also calls the attention of Atty. Ming for the detail, and the Sanggunian members that maybe it is not very appealing to the investors, and the incentives factors are missing. He also called SB Secretary Sir Joel Camacho that maybe they are lacking incentives to provide, and he asked Sir Camacho to please check on this matter.

There is also the Competitive Index of Cities and Municipalities throughout the Philippines, and the mayor of the town is proud of having the 67-hectare Bayambang Global Center. This is going to be built in the prayer park where the construction of the Enchanted Kingdom of the North will begin. There will be expected job opportunities in every Bayambangueño.

There is also the P676,660,098.21 donation from the mayor's family to the town. Also, the JKQ Hospital is worth 1.5 billion of which 500M is the tax paid by the mayor's family.

As part of the infrastructure and development, there the horizontal infrastructures and one of these is the construction of 36.70 KMS Core access and farm-to-market roads from the year 2017 to 2022 using the 20% Development Fund, and the 3.16 KMS Asphalt Overlay in the year 2023.

Also, the following are the vertical infrastructures from year 2017 to 2023:

·       Police Community Precinct-8

·       Multi-Purpose Covered Courts-67

·       Multi-Purpose Halls-14

·       Child Development Centers-5

·       Barangay Health Centers/ Senior Citizen Centers-4

Many infrastructure projects have been given to the barangay captains, and these projects also provided emergency employment to some Bayambangueños.

 

4. ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AND DISASTER RESILIENCY

The MDRRMO, MENRO, and different offices ensure that the town is safe and disaster resilient. As of today (August 24), the regional office validated the MDRRMO for the Gawad Kalasag.

Dr. Saygo informs everyone that the 77 barangays have a Functional Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Mitigation Committee (BDRRMC).

The following are the number of staff who participated in the Capacity Building and Skills Enhancement Trainings:

·       A total of 796 participants from 77 Barangay for the CBDRRM training to the Barangay Councils conducted by MDRRMO.

·       A total of 39 staff for the Integrated Planning Course on Incident Command System (Level II), and 35 staff for the Incident Command System Position Course.

·       A total of 61 staff attended the Basic Fire Safety and Firefighting (using fire extinguisher), and 65 CDWs/MDRRMO staff attended the Standard First Aid Training and Basic Life Support Training.

·       And a total of 79 staff for the Capacity Building on Disaster Resiliency, and 29 Responders and safety officers for the Standard First Aid and Basic Life Support Training.

Also, the MDRRMO, CS First, and other officers are planting bamboo in the Dike as one of the protections and ensuring that the Dike will not be destroyed. For those barangays with a Dike, there are 47 million pesos allotted for the construction of the Dike. These programs show that the town is disaster resilient.

Dr. Saygo called the attention of MAO, MENRO, all the SK, LYDO Officer, and other NGOs and requested that the tree planting programs will be done here in the town of Bayambang.

Also, Dr. Saygo informs everyone that the Bali-Balin Bayambang program will be back again soon.

 

5. GOOD GOVERNANCE

All the things mentioned show how the town is doing good and properly managed by the town's leader and all the officials. These things also prove that there is no corruption in the town of Bayambang. And as proof, there are a lot of awards that the town has received. There is the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG), the Anti-Drug Abuse Council Performance Audit, and the Digital Governance Awards headed by ICTO Mr. Ricky Bulalakaw. This Digital Governance will be the best practice of the whole province of Pangasinan.  Also, there is the Unmodified Opinion received by the Municipality in the Commission on Audit (COA) that shows how the town's budget is properly managed.

The Good Governance of the town is also proved by the ISO 9001:2015 Stage 2 Certification Audit that they have passed wherein there are ISO Certified 34 offices. This means that the services for every Bayambangueños that the town offers are based on following international standards.

The Seal of Good Local Governance Barangay also existed wherein all the 77 barangays participated, but based on the report of MLGOO, there are only 1 of the participants had the chance to pass the SGLGB. By this, for the upcoming months, with the directives that Dr. Saygo is giving to his team along with the Liga ng mga Barangay, the LGU Bayambang's Good Governance practice shall be brought to the barangay level to ensure that they will be able to provide the requirements in passing the next SGLGB.

Dr. Saygo also mentioned the status of SK Officials wherein the election is upcoming but almost 43% of the SK Officials presently haven't yet fulfilled their corresponding terms but already resigned.

He also mentioned the LYDO Officer, Mr. Johnson Abalos, to plan for the quarterly checking of SK Officials so that the MLGOO and DILG will help with the complete lineup of the SK Officials whenever some of them have already resigned.

Dr. Saygo informed everyone that the status of the Revolution Against Poverty is doing good and all the goals for the sake of the whole town and of all Bayambangueños will be achieved through the cooperation and collaborative efforts of everyone.