"Masasabi ko po ngayon na sa ating pagtutulong-tulong ay unti-unti na po nating nakikita ang pagbangon ng bagong San Pedro tungo sa kaunlaran."
With these words, San Pedro City, Laguna Mayor Art Mercado summarized the rapid transformation of Laguna's "first city" in the first two years of his administration.
In his State of the City Address (SOCA) last December 27, Mercado took San Pedrenses both on a "throwback" of sorts of the achievements of his administration, as the LGU prepares for another year full of hope and possibilities.
Achievements
Notably, most of the achievements bared by the city executive in his SOCA centered on strengthening the city government's social welfare programs for the past two years, an important part of his "Art-GENDA."
In his speech, Mercado stressed the milestones achieved by his administration in improving the city's education and healthcare sector.
Aside from the yearly distribution of free school uniforms and supplies for the city's 125,000 schoolchildren, the San Pedro City LGU has also provided financial assistance to 7,700 students under the San Pedro City Scholarship Program.
The San Pedro LGU under Mercado made gains to strengthen its healthcare facilities, particularly through the “Botika ni San Pedro” program that has distributed around P46 million worth of medicines, as well as the San Pedro Diagnostics Center that was opened earlier this year.
Good governance
Aside from improving social services, Mercado also tackled his administration's goal of ensuring efficient and "world-class" public service, as part of his vision of San Pedro City becoming a "SmART City" by 2032.
This was evidenced by the LGU receiving this year the ISO 9001:2015 certification, one of the highest standards of management, as well as the streamlining of government services, as well as the initial launch and registration for the landmark “San Pedro Green Card” program of the city government.
To date, more than 24,000 senior citizens and persons with disabilities (PWDs) have already been registered for the program, Mercado reported.
The city government has also acted on more than 100,000 complaints and comments filed with the "Ugnayan sa San Pedro" program, another landmark program of the San Pedro LGU that aims to encourage San Pedrenses to actively participate in local governance and give them a forum in airing their concerns to the government.
That the San Pedro city government was able to garner multiple awards this year, chief among them the 8th Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) Awards from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), is tangible proof for Mercado – and for city officials and civil servants – that the city is on the right path in its dream of becoming “Una sa Laguna.”
"Malayo pa, pero malayo na. Ang tagumpay na tinatamasa ng pamahalaang lungsod ay tagumpay ng bawat isa sa atin. Nadarama ko na iisa ang ating layunin: na iahon ang ating pinakamamahal na San Pedro patungo sa isang maunlad at saganang lungsod. Kaya ang karangalang ito ay para sa bawat San Pedrense, noon, ngayon at sa hinaharap. It's a win for everyone," Mercado concluded.