Cortes to focus on implementation of 5-point agenda in next 3 years

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes (center) and members of the City Council pose for a photo after he delivered his inaugural address on July 4, 2022. | CDND Photo / Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu- Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes wants to focus on the implementation of his five-point agenda in the next three years.

These are pandemic recovery, housing for the homeless, infrastructure development, efficient delivery of basic services to the communities, and having a smart resilient Mandaue.

During his inaugural address on Monday afternoon, July 4, Cortes said the COVID-19 pandemic caused so much disruption locally and to the global economy.

Cortes said there is a need to strengthen micro, small, and medium businesses (MSMES) that serves as the backbone of the city’s economy in terms of employment, income generation, and social cohesion.

MSME programs

Part of the city’s resiliency roadmap is to strengthen and develop the MSMES by implementing a series of programs that will equip them with the necessary skills and knowledge to support their businesses, guide them as they navigate through the tough times, and facilitate linkages with other more established companies.

The city government also plans to introduce MSME-friendly policies that will start with the activation of the MSME Development Council.

Cortes said they would also continue to capacitate interested groups who want to engage in business to form informal workers’ associations so they can avail of assistance from national agencies especially from the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE), just like an association in Barangay Subangdaku that received P800,000 as seed money for the operation of a convenience store.

The program’s implementation will also be linked with cooperatives to allow the MSMEs expand their operations, Cortes said, during his inaugural addressed which he delivered at the Mandaue City Sports and Cultural Complex.

Cortes, who received a fresh mandate in the May 9 elections, was joined by members of the 16th Sangguniang Panlungsod and their family members and supporters.

Mandaue City’s 16th SP consist of Vice Mayor Glenn Bercede and Councilors Nerrisa Soon-Ruiz, Malcolm Sanchez, Jimmy Lumapas, Jun Arcilla, Maline Cortes-Zafra, Cynthia Remedio, Jen Del Mar, Joel Seno, Ting Sol Cabahug, Icalina Ouano-Andong, Oscar “Oca” Del Castillo, and Editha Cabahug, the lone opposition candidate who won in the elections.

The 16th SP is the first Sanggunian to serve the lone district of Mandaue.  Mandauehanons also elected for the first time their representative to the Congress, Rep. Emmarie Ouano-Dizon, in the May 9 elections.

Housing

In his inaugural message, Cortes said, the need to provide housing to the homeless is equally as important as the need to revive the city’s economy.

He mentioned of the recent groundbreaking of the Tipolo Residences, a project that is designed to have a total of five mid-rise buildings for fire victims and the city’s urban poor.

READ: CLI donates socialized housing building to Mandaue City

A similar project which the city government is pursuing is the implementation of the Berde-certified socialized housing community that will showcase the city’s partnership  different stakeholders to provide homes “that will give residents space to grow with dignity and opportunity to improve their quality of life.”

In order to spur economic activities, the city government will also be focusing on the implementation of various infrastructure projects.

These include the construction of a government center, improvement of current road networks and bike lanes, implementation of the drainage masterplan, construction of a world-class sports arena, and public-private partnerships, including joint venture reclamation projects.

“Maayong infrastructure, may dalan nga muhatod kanato ngadto sa malambu-ong kaugmaon,” the mayor said.

Basic Services

And while they focus on the city’s infrastructure needs, Cortes said, they would not also forget the need to efficiently deliver basic services.

Under the social protection objective of the resilient Mandaue roadmap, City Hall departments are scheduled to visit barangays with established parks to bring government services closer to the communities that they serve.

This program was launched in Barangay Tawason on Friday, July 1. Residents in the area were able to avail of free medical check-ups, legal services, birth registration, livelihood and skills training, and other social services like medical and burial assistance.

As part of the program, Cortes said, they also plan to create resiliency centers for clustered barangays and establish purok resiliency teams to ensure faster disaster response.

Resilient Mandaue

Finally, Cortes said he wanted to make Mandaue City a resilient city in the next three years.

This can be achieved by implementing the plans laid down in the city’s resilient Mandaue strategy map, a consolidation of the different plans of the different City Hall departments.  These include urban planning, disaster resilience, environmental sustainability programs, policies on the adoption of technologies to improve mobility and infrastructure, revenue collection through EBPLS, ICT, and data management.

However, Cortes said, they will need the cooperation of all stakeholders in making sure that they achieve programs that were identified under his five point agenda because governance is a “shared responsibility.”

During his first three years at City Hall, he already started the implementation of a purok system to funnel basic services, environmental sustainability programs with the city working on the rehabilitation of the Butuanon River and Mahiga Creek, and the conversion of the the open dumpsite in Barangay Umapad into a green learning park, among others.

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