Alfred to critics: Forget past opposition and move forward
TACLOBAN CITY- Mayor Alfred Romualdez issued an appeal to his critics to join him on his endeavors to make Tacloban not only a city for its local residents but also for those coming from other areas of the country.
The city mayor made this appeal as he led yesterday’s occasion marking the first year of Tacloban as a highly urbanized city as he promised not only to become a more “dedicated leader” but steer the city to an era of progress.
The reclassification of Tacloban into a highly urbanized city last year was met with strong opposition as critics have argued that it is not yet ready to meet the challenges of being an HUC.
But the city mayor said that after a year, this fear of those who have opposed the reclassification of Tacloban into a highly urbanized city was proven wrong.
“After a year, we were able to prove to them that we can stand on our own. We are not only standing but were able to move forward and for the first time on its history, we’re now zero-deficit with our budget,” Romualdez said.
His financial managers had earlier reported that the collection target for this fiscal year in the amount of P634 million is guaranteed to be met with the possibility of exceeding it.
For next year, Tacloban will be operating under total appropriations of P713.4 million, the biggest yet in the history of the city.
The financial managers of the city had also revealed that with the opening of several business establishments in the city, employment problem was also addressed.
The city mayor, mindful of still continuing opposition to his bold decision to convert Tacloban into an HUC, asked his critics to forget the past and move forward as he promised that he would do what he could to improve further the city.
“Let us celebrate for the yes or no. Let us move forward. Let us all unite. I want Tacloban not only a city for the Taclobanons or to the region but to the (rest of the) Philippines,” he said, referring to his ambition to make Tacloban at par with other progressive cities in the country.
Mayor Romualdez said that aside from achieving financial liquidity on the city’s coffers, the first year of Tacloban as an HUC also paved the way for more active participation of the people from the barangay and from the private sector.
“We’re able to engage our community (people) by taking strong partnership with the (city) government and even the private sector,” he said.
Taking off on the slogan on yesterday’s celebration “I Love Tacloban,” Mayor Romualdez urged the Taclobanons to love Tacloban, adding that “it is really us who will make or break it.”
While Romualdez admitted that there were several things accomplished during the first year of his administration together with the new classification of Tacloban, there are still so many to accomplish.
He, however, vowed to address these problems which include the perennial problem on drainage and even the worsening traffic situation in the city. (JOEY A. GABIETA)
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