San Pedro is Home

It is the first local government unit after Metro Manila in going to the south side of Luzon, earning for it the title of the gateway to the south from Metro Manila.

In terms of land size, it is also one of the smallest LGU in the province and mostly sits on a mountain that connects it to Cavite province.

Flat land is just almost one third of the total land area, making it not interesting for investors in manufacturing.

But it has become a preferred home to tens of thousands of families with members working in the big city and in industrial zones in neighbor cities, from Binan City to Calamba.

Bedroom City

LGUs in Laguna, from Binan City to Calamba City claim their economic progress to the presence of so many industrial zones, homes to big factories that pay high taxes aside from employing local manpower.

San Pedro City, on the other hand, has gained the moniker Bedroom City, mainly because most of its residents are out to their work somewhere in workdays and return to the city to rest at night and weekends with their families.

Given the character of the population, the local government could have not done any better than giving priority to providing social services, education, health and creating income opportunities for those left by the family breadwinners at home.

“The challenge was and is how to make San Pedro a home to those who decided to make it one. And making it home was what I did as mayor of the city,” Mayor Lourdes “Baby” Cataquiz once said in an interview.

Green environment

Mayor Baby as everybody would address the ubiquitous mayor, indeed strived to be mother to the city, giving attention to the environment, and health issues.

On the environment, the city mayor is determined on making green all open spaces in subdivisions and would not give an inch to parties trying to convert these open spaces to home of buildings, even of schools.

A big part of the total land area of the city is now covered by cement as housing projects that need roads have mushroomed, accommodating tens of thousands who wish to make the city their home.

“There is reason why the law granting developers the permit to build housing projects requires a percent of the land area should be devoted to open spaces,” Mayor Baby said, adding that the earth should be allowed to breath so that we can also breath the oxygen from the greens.

The mayor insisted, she will never compromise the environment, “the need for playground of the kids, and for trees and plants to grow in our city.”

A healthy environment is a prerequisite to healthy families.

Healthy families

And making healthy families is in the priority of this mayor who is a mother to five children and grandmother to 12, the reason she gives keen attention to the needs of public community hospitals and clinics in the city.

The city has purchased modern diagnostic and medical equipment for the city-run

San Pedro Jose L. Amante Emergency Hospital, Gavin Alavarez Lying-in Center and two rural health units.

The city has provided funds for doctors and nurses and experts in the medical field for immediate and emergency assistance to those needing help. These medical institutes are geographically spread to become nearer the people.

Education for all

After the environment and health, Mayor Cataquiz believes on education as the better equalizer and solution in the socio-economic imbalance among economic classes.

“At the personal level, education is the most important tool for the underprivileged to scape from their difficulties. But at community level, it is important in creating responsible citizenship that is the correct bedrock of real progress of any community,” she explained.

So San Pedro is committed to providing free and quality education in elementary and high school levels while giving scholarship assistance to deserving college students.

The mayor has defined “deserving” as those coming from families earning not more than P300,000.00 a year and maintain passing grades. These students are the mayor’s Iskolar ng Lungsod ng San Pedro.

Skills training hub

San Pedro being home for working families, available trainable manpower is just expected from these families, leading to Mayor Baby’s move to strengthen skills training making many otherwise idle persons to be productive members of society.

This vision of Mayor Baby to train the young in the city has led to the birth of San Pedro Technological Institute (SPTI).

This used to be the San Pedro Manpower Training Center, administered by TESDA. Many graduates of SPTI now work abroad while others found employment in local companies.

Cataquiz dominant interest on education could not be more emphasized in his building San Pedro City Polytechnic College (SPCPC), offering college courses matched to the needs of the times and the industries in the area.

The city also funds the local operations of one of the country’s preferred state universities, the Polytechnic University of the Philippines (PUP), where it has a campus in San Pedro. Students do not pay tuition fees at PUP San Pedro that has enrollment reaching over a thousand a year.

The local PUP campus has made a name on the fields of accounting and education, registering high passing rate in these two courses.

She provided answers to the challenges under the distant learning scheme during this pandemic. She has set aside funds to buy gadgets for teachers and students for their online classes.

Local government was better felt under the leadership of Mayor Baby with P50 million annually set aside for social services, covering cost in burial services, medical financial assistance, education assistance, to the marginalized sector of the city.

Next part of this series is on building an economically healthy family for a progressive city. (To be continued)