Cordova: ‘Reducing gap between gov’t and people’
Sagarbarria: ‘Continuing primary health care system’
by Nova Veraley V. Grafe
INCUMBENT MAYOR MANUEL “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria and Vice-Mayor Alan Gel Cordova, both running for the city mayor’s seat this coming election, engaged in a forum series last Feb. 12 and 14 to present their party’s platforms.
The forum series aims to provide an avenue wherein members of the Silliman community are able to engage with local candidates and know their respective visions for Dumaguete. Vice-Mayor Alan Gel Cordova and the Liberal Party was the first guest in Feb. 12 and followed by the incumbent Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria in Feb. 14. Both political parties were given 20 minutes to present their respective platforms to their audience at the Multi-purpose Hall, Silliman University.
Cordova said, “…by introducing candidates that are coming from the masses, the gap between the government and the governed [the people] will be reduced.
Aiming for a government lead by people from ordinary backgrounds, LP’s line-up includes a pedicab driver, a professor, an ICT I (Information and Communications Technology) president, a nurse, an advocate of Persons with Disabilities (PWDs), and a lawyer.
Cordova said the majority of the team were from families who were never inclined to politics but have been serving people in the different sectors of the community with hard work and sincerity.
Cordova added: “There’s a tendency that only the higher ranked officials will able to decide for the development of the city, without hearing the sides of the lower ranked officials…so, creating a strong partnership between the executive and legislative department and the barangay councils in policy determinations (policy-making), will lead to an active part in both the people in the position and the masses.”
Improving and maintaining peace and order; providing health programs to indigents, senior citizens, and persons with disabilities; creating an offce to stop de politicization of medical assistance; and making Dumaguete City an agricultural trading center and a center for education are the platforms in Cordova’s mayoralty.
On the other hand, Mayor Manuel “Chiquiting” Sagarbarria and the Nacionalista Party presented the three-year strategic vision of the party called HEALTH. The program stands for: H-health for the people and environment, E-education, A-agriculture, L-livelihood, T-transparency, and H-housing.
Sagarbarria promised to continue the primary health care system, sustaining the one-nurse per barangay policy, and focusing on medical missions; to strengthen existing moral recovery program of the city; and continue to implement Solid Waste Management programs and effcient management of septage and wastewater management facilities.
“Continue maximization of skills programs among students of all levels; promotion of arts, science and technology; support training programs for the athletes; and continue linkages with research developments and extension programs of schools” are the aims of Sagarbarria for the development of education. By providing the “Waste-to-food project and Plow-now-pay-laterprogram” to farmers, Sagarbarria and the Nacionalista Party work to make varieties of food available through the increased production and productivity of agriculture, fisheries, and livestock resources; promote accessibility to agricultural land; and stimulate the development and adoption of organic farming technologies that will increase productivity in both plants and animals while decreasing the environmental impact of the food and farming industries.
“Being strong is the kind of spirit the City Government of Dumaguete City is trying to cultivate in every Dumagueteño, so that together as a people, [we] can go through everything and withstand the test of time,” said Sagarbarria.
This is in line with the School of Public Affairs and Governance (SPAG) activity, with its theme, “Local Political Party Platforms: Convergence with Silliman’s Vision of Public Action”.
