Day before 70th Charter Day; Ormoc mayor delivers 1st State of the City Address

CEBU, Philippines — Mayor Richard Gomez of Ormoc City yesterday morning delivered his first State of the City Address (SOCA)—before members of the 14th City Council, and his wife Representative Lucy Torres Gomez (4th district, Leyte), among other invited guests—the day before the celebration of the city’s 70th Charter Day today.

Gomez’s SOCA centered on the accomplishments he did during his first year in office, and also highlighted the contribution of his political group, the Ormoc Development Team, in achieving these. The mayor also lauded the private sector for supporting and participating in his administration, saying it was the fulfillment of his promise to run the city with transparency and accountability.

Gomez enumerated his accomplishments on the 12-agenda priorities he spelled out during his inaugural: Peace and order; tourism/trade and investments; education and manpower; health and sanitation; agriculture, food production and fisheries; environment and climate change/disaster response; traffic management; infrastructure; and good governance and revenue generation.

In his first year in office, Gomez said Ormoc had changed its tag as the “drug capital of Eastern Visayas,” to become the first city to have 60 percent of its 110 barangays certified “drug-free” by the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.

Gomez also showed statistics on how the crime rate has dropped in the city, including the implementation of traffic laws—speed limit, and anti-drunk driving—with the city being the first in the region to have speed guns and breathalyzers. He said the city is also providing the police with 100 liters of fuel a week for their patrol cars, and 25 liters a week for their motorcycles.

For tourism/trade and investments, Gomez said the newly-created City Tourism Office showed a sharp increase in the number of tourist arrivals—from 61,608 in 2015 to 128,218 mostly in the second half of last year. For 2017, tourist arrivals already hit 96,139, as of April, with tourism revenues already reaching more than P192 million.

There has also been a marked increase of business registrations, and two big shopping malls opening soon, he said, adding that the city is expecting more visitors, as it is now working on the Ormoc Museum and be the first city in Region 8 to conduct cultural mapping, and the only one of about 50 in the country.

On education and manpower, the mayor announced that the City Council approved the Ormoc City Scholarship Ordinance, and is poised to have one for athletic scholarships also. The city currently has 124 scholars, and had raised the allowance of Ormoc teachers to P1,000 per month.

On health and sanitation, Gomez said Ormoc is no longer the city with the highest number of malnourished children. It is also about to complete its sanitation program by providing toilets to an estimated 10,000 households. A city septage facility had been constructed, and a septage ordinance was passed to make mandatory the cleaning up of septic tanks in the city every four years.

On agriculture, Gomez said Ormoc has bought two more tractors to help farmers improve their efficiency in planting and harvesting. He added that Ormoc remains the premier agricultural city in the region, as its vegetable capital, and its fruit capital.

On environment, climate change and disaster response, the mayor said he had suspended the operations of sand and gravel operators, even including his political allies. The city also now has a Solid Waste Management ordinance, which minimizes its garbage problem, and acquired five new ambulances to make the city the first CRR-ready in the region.

Ormoc had also has passed a Rainwater Harvesting Ordinance, another first in the region, making the city a model for climate resiliency, the mayor said.

Gomez said the City Treasurer’s Office had accomplished increase in revenues, after his administration started to strictly collect past dues from tenants of many public facilities like the Ormoc Superdome, the public market and terminals.

On good governance, the mayor said the City Council approved at least 42 ordinances, during his term, one of which is the creation of the Youth Development Office. The city government is now spending its resources prudently, Gomez added. (FREEMAN)