Cebu City aims to replicate best practices of Metro Manila cities

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City officials who went on some bench-marking activity in Metro Manila for a few days are back at the City Hall with a bagful of hope of replicating some of the best practices of some highly-urbanized cities they recently visited.

City Administrator Suzanne Ardosa disclosed they went to four highly-urbanized cities including Quezon, Las Piñas, Valenzuela, and Makati.

Ardosa said, in Quezon City, they were gaining some more knowledge in “ease of doing business via automation as what also Mayor Michael Rama wants Cebu City to have.

“From long lines to online…So there will no longer be fixers…system-merged ang ilang data,” Ardosa said.

Aside from that, they are also looking into Quezon City’s interventions with informal settlers and some high-impact projects like the Balintawak market, Payatas redevelopment, public transportation, recovery of sidewalks and pocket parks, and redevelopment of the Quezon City Memorial Circle.

Ardosa said Quezon City has a technical working group focused on such projects which can also be formed here.

In Las Piñas, the city’s bench-marking team went to the NGO-run Villar Sipag Center which is involved in helping OFW, livelihood, and entrepreneurship, medical missions, recycling, reusing and repurposing of some solid wastes materials, and care for the environment.

The Cebu City team also looked into the 30-kilometer Las Piñas-Zapote river drive which the city hopes to achieve with the recovery of the three-meter easement here and the city’s agricultural training center for free.

In Valenzuela, the team looked into their museum which also showcases those that gave valuable contributions and honor to their city, and the city’s housing project which is like a “township” that also includes a satellite office of the City Hall and a one-command center.

Over in Makati, the team also looked into how they process business permits as well as the city’s call center which operates 24/7 not only for emergencies but for all city government department concerns.

“We want to improve the lives of our constituents…Daghan mig nakat-unan…Things that we can do better,” said Ardosa.

Aside from that, the City of Taguig and Pasay also shared some of their best practices while a team from Israel and Hungary also shared some of their program offers which, Ardosa said, the city may also collaborate on.

“This is not a competition, but…one in nation building…as Mayor Mike said, we can make greater things happen in Cebu City and for the rest of the country,” ended Ardosa. — GMR (FREEMAN)