Cotabato City mayor finalist for Lingkod Bayan award

COTABATO CITY, Philippines — Local sectors were elated with the city mayor’s having been voted regional finalist for the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award.

Grace Belgado-Sequeton, director of the Civil Service Commission for Region 12, turned over to Cotabato City Mayor Cynthia Guiani-Sayadi on Monday a plaque stating that she is a finalist candidate for the award, from among 58,000 nominees from across the country.

The symbolic event, held at the Cotabato City People’s Palace here, was witnessed by employees of the city mayor’s office and local sectoral leaders.

The search for Presidential Lingkod Bayan awardees is an annual activity of CSC, meant to honor government workers with accomplishments worthy of recognition by the national government.

Traders welcomed positively the CSC’s announcement here Monday that Guiani-Sayadi is a regional finalist for the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award.

Merchant Pete Marquez, a senior member of various business organizations in the city, said the city mayor deserves the award.

Marquez said there have been dramatic improvements in trading activities in Cotabato City in the past three years.

“Malls and other commercial establishments have been emerging around the city, a clear indication that capitalists are certain their investments being poured around are safe,” Marquez said.

Barangay officials and peace activists wrote on Facebook their optimism Guiani-Sayadi would get a Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award.

“For me, our mayor's being named a regional finalist is enough. That is already a recognition that in Region 12, our mayor is an icon of good governance,” said an official of the Police Regional Office-Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, who resides in the city.

Cotabato City landed last August 16 on the second top spot for the government efficiency category of the 2017 search for most competitive cities in the Philippines.

The yearly grant of awards to competitive cities in the country is an activity of the National Competitiveness Council.

No fewer than a hundred cities in the country vied for this year’s NNC efficient governance awards, according to a report from the council.

Belgado-Sequeton, in a message, said the mayor here was nominated to the national search for the Presidential Lingkod Bayan Award for her being “an architect of development” and for her active involvement in law-enforcement activities intended to improve the local business climate.

Members of the local business community said the mayor’s having been included among the finalists for the award will certainly improve the confidence of foreign investors on the city’s investment atmosphere.