ISA and Calbayog

(This column appears in today's edition of the Leyte-Samar Daily Express)

Hi there! It’s a new week and that day of the year is almost here - Valentine’s Day, what else? I’ll try to write something about it this Friday.

Late last week a news report was made about the pinoy poor (it’s kinda sketchy on my part as I did not get to hear the whole thing). Anyway, what caught my attention was that figures showed that supposedly a good number of the so-called hard-up Pinoys are spending less on food and more on telecommunication! Whew! How about that? Start taxing text messages and that figure is sure to go up.

Big deal about PGMA not being able to shake hands with Obama. It was reported that there were six other heads of states present in that breakfast event, and I guess there’s no report about them having a meeting or hand-shaking with the Obama. Well, there was Blair onstage with the President. Anyway, es la vida.

And another world leader figured in a shoe-throwing incident? Hmm, seems like we have a new trend, in protesting (?) if I may add.

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The LGU recently hosted some officers of the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA). The ISA through one of its core programs, the Public Governance System (PGS) conducted a one-day PGS workshop for Co-Convenorship at I’s Plant Hotel.

Mayor Mel Sarmiento gave a presentation on the City Development Strategy (CDS) and PGS experience of Calbayog. Present as observer / guest in the activity was Mayor Alita Rosales of Catarman. She was together with her Municipal Budget Office and Municipal Accountant.

Also in attendance were the LGU's Finance cluster which is includes as members the City Treasurer, the City Budget Officer, the BPLO head, the City Planning & Development Officer and the City Accountant; and the economic cluster the members of which are the City Veterinarian, the City Cooperatives Officer, the Market Director, the Environment Officer, the City Engineer, the City Information Office and the City Agriculturist.

The workshop was one of the series of activities the the ISA have undertaken with the City of Calbayog being one of the partner cities of ISA. As of the moment, Calbayog is ranked as a PGS-Compliant City.

A PGS-Compliant status is granted to a partner that has formally organized its internal and external stakeholders to be part of the governance process with clear deliverables and accountabilities that are captured in “scorecards” developed to monitor the institution’s journey towards its vision. Moreover, the partner has begun using its strategy map in planning and budgeting.

Here’s a short backgrounder on the ISA which I copied from the website (www.isacenter.org) ISA is a collaborative for sectoral leaders, public officials and citizens committed to good governance in all aspects and levels of life in society.

ISA works with sectoral leaders in raising the standards of professional and ethical practice as well as of social responsibility in their respective sectors.

ISA works with public officials in institutionalizing a public governance system, in partnership with multi-sectoral coalitions, for the long-term development of their communities and institutions.

ISA works with institutions to develop centers for leadership dedicated to the continuing training of citizens in the exercise of their civic duties and in their participation to serve the common good of society.

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And here’s an update on the Wright - Calbayog 138 KV Transmission Line Project.

Last week, Mayor Mel Sarmiento received a letter from Mr. Arthur Aguilar, President and CEO of the National Transmission Corporation (TransCo).

Let me share some parts of the letter:

"This refers to your letter dated 20 January 2009, sent to us by Usec. Charito R. Elegir. We wish to inform you that we referred your letter to the National Grid Corporation of the Philippines (NGCP). NGCP has taken over the transmission business of TransCo effective 15 January 2009, including the function of construction and expansion of the transmission system.

Considering that the project is part of the Final Determination approved by the Energy Regulatory Commission, we expect the completion of the subject line by year 2010."

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And what’s this? A few years back we have heard some reports about stores or commercial establishments not giving some change to customers, like “wara kami sensilyo, dulce nala”. I understand something was done about it. Now, there is this money remittance service provider in the city, where a staff is doing something almost like that. How is that? It’s not the wara-kami-sensilyo-sanglit-dulce-nala kind of thing. Word has it that a good number of remittance recipients (am I using the right term? Maybe customer is more like it) would be told, “an butal ig load ko nala” referring to the A-load business that the employee is doing on the side. No question about doing some sideline, in times like these, we need it. But that point is that the “butal” that we are talking about here could be as low as 35 pesos to as high as 70 pesos. Try to imagine doing that to at least 6 clients in a day. No need to do the math.

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This is it for now. Have a nice week everyone! Ciao!