EDITORIAL - October 2018

EDITORIAL

Pilot town

Many big things happened in October 2018. That's because Bayambang continues to make great strides in different fields. For instance: 

·        The town leads the region in integrated computerization across the LGU system, including the use of an emergency response system (#4357), among other innovations, thanks to having the "father of Philippine IT" as the local chief executive. 

        - Bayambang is also a leader in poverty reduction, if not eradication, with the highest number of 4Ps graduates in the region. Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao notes that there's probably no other town in the country with a 10-year poverty reduction plan like the Bayambang Poverty Reduction Plan and, we might add, an out-of-town omnibus service caravan like the Komprehensibong Serbisyo sa Bayan.

·        The mayor is also poised to pioneer agricultural mechanization, at least in the town itself, with the introduction of mechanical rice planters and other farm machinery, on top of other big projects to boost food production. It is only in his administration that culture and the arts is being given full support, wherein the special local bodies participate and cooperate with the programs of the LGU.

·        For the first time, every department in the municipality knows exactly how much is its budget.

·        For the first time, municipal employees have been given career and skill development seminars to hone their skills.

·        Passion for public service is championed like never before, as again and again the Mayor reminds all employees of the LGU that if only they took to heart the weekly pledge of a government employee ('Panunumpa ng Kawani ng Gobyerno'), the municipality would surely be in good hands.

·        Now more than ever is democracy alive in Bayambang, where rule of law flourishes, where political will and not political patronage is being observed.

Such is his love for the municipality that he could have a blissful, worry-free life in the metropolis but he decided to come back to his hometown. Prior to his being elected in office, he had seen how slow was the development in his hometown that for the past 400 years, apathy, corruption and lack of concrete direction made the town remain agricultural.

The town has been a pilot town of sorts before when it became a pioneer in experimental education and community training, with the establishment of the Philippine-UNESCO Community Training Center in the grounds of the then Pangasinan Normal School in 1953. But the latest breakthroughs in Bayambang would not have been possible if not for the Quiambao-Sabangan administration's best practices in governance and Mayor Quiambao's pioneering spirit and unconventional leadership. For the sake of transparency and not to harp on his generosity, since 2002, his foundation, the Kasama Kita sa Barangay Foundation, has been helping the municipality silently, from large donations such as road construction projects down to little numerous unrecognized donations.

A spearhead, a trailblazer, an engineer (or architect) of progress -- these are not exaggerated words to use when referring to Balon Bayambang and Mayor Cezar T. Quiambao's leadership. In fact, these are only most apt even in the most objective sense.