LAOAG CITY is now training its sight on becoming a bustling metropolis by year 2022 with it’s inclusion in the third batch of participants in the City Development Strategies (CDS) program of the League of Cities in the Philippines (LCP). The CDS is a development planning process which aims to institutionalize a “partnership approach” to city administration and urban management. It is a planning exercise intended to set the direction of the city towards a common goal by identifying various development projects and aligning policy decisions and revenue measures. Relative to this, Laoag Mayor Michael V. Farińas recently created a multi-sectoral technical working group to determine the city’s priority project in order to realize the said vision. By virtue of Executive Order 2006-03 issued by the city mayor, the group was formed to assist the CDS Core Team and Technical Working Group composed of city department heads, in the on-going phases of the CDS process specifically in determining and prioritizing key projects for implementation in the next 15 years. The multi-sectoral body is composed of representatives from the political and youth sector, the academe, business/commerce, utility services, non-government organizations, city and provincial government, national line agencies and the tri-media. More than 30 projects including: the expansion of the geographical information system (GIS); revision of the revenue code; enactment of an investment incentive code; upgrading of the Laoag International Airport and Currimao Port, establishment of the North Luzon Medical Center and an industrial estate; were identified by the group. These projects were then ranked vis-ŕ-vis the urgency of need, capacity of the city to implement the project, relevance to productivity, number of beneficiaries and social impact, impact on poverty alleviation, financial viability and environmental implications. “We got very good inputs,” Gloria Peralta, city administrator, said during the conduct of the organizational and consultation meeting at the City Auditorium on September 12. “Without your help we would not have thought of all these,” she told members of the group. Meanwhile, Lolita Reyes, a veteran broadcaster, noted the absence of a representative from the city council. “Our lawmakers need to be informed and they have to support this project,” she said. “Otherwise, all our efforts will come to naught, especially so that the final step would be the adoption of the CDS by the legislative body,” she stressed. Peralta said, two members of the council were invited but were unable to attend the said activity. Reyes have thus committed to drumbeat the CDS program together with other members of the local media to generate the needed support from the council and the general public. Aleli Aggasid-Batara, (PIA Ilocos News)
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