Roxas reminds mayors of public safety

CEBU, Philippines- Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Mar Roxas reminded all mayors of their responsibility to ensure public safety.

Roxas issued the reminder during the 2014 Luzon Island Cluster Conference of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines held in Cebu.

“Bilang ama at ina ng inyong lokalidad, tungkulin at obligasyon ninyong iligtas sa kapahamakan ang inyong mga constituents,” Roxas said.

LGUs are mandated under Republic Act No. 9729 or the Climate Change Act and R.A. 10121 or the Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Act to harness its capacities on climate change and disaster management, especially for municipalities which are the forefront of the government’s initiative to adapt, mitigate, and prepare for climate change and disaster.

Roxas added that the national government continues to push the Grassroots Participatory Budgeting as a means to reduce poverty.

Under the GPB, Roxas said every barangay, people’s organization, non-government agencies and citizens will unite to plan and put anti-poverty in their respective locality and to choose whatever poverty-reduction projects they want to implement and submit this to the national government for inclusion in the General Fund.

To boost all-inclusive growth, the national government has introduced GPB which seeks to make the national budget more responsive to local needs, provide incentives for good governance, strengthens the devolution of basic services delivery and creates conducive environment for people’s participation.

“This is a program wherein economic progress must be felt by the people. Walang maiiwan at walang iwanan,” said Roxas.

Formerly known as the Bottom-Up Budgeting in reverse to the trickle down strategy, the GPB-driven initiatives are designed to attain inclusive growth, providing jobs to the growing labor force and reducing poverty.

The two-day mayors’ conference aims to redefine the municipal mayor’s role as the prime mover in the delivery of frontline services and as economic manager who must re-focus programs towards the attainment of all inclusive-growth, promoting in the process poverty reduction and good governance at the local level.

It is also aim to reinforce LMP’s new character as an organization of leaders, front liners, and first responders.  —/FPL) (FREEMAN)