Belmonte out to make QC a center of commerce

Speaker Sonny "SB" Belmonte will push for, among others, the establishment of new business and commercial mega-centers like those in Ayala and Ortigas and transform Quezon City into a "world-class metropolis."

However, Belmonte stressed this "tall order" would need the full support and participation of the people guided by an honest and efficient administration. "All development programs will be crystallized and finalized by an activated QC Development Council (QCDC)."

"I will give the city what it deserves – good government. Wasteful use of resources and corruption must first be rid of. I will lead by example. Together, we will transform Quezon City into a modern and humane city of unlimited opportunities for all," said Belmonte, now leading the city’s mayoral race.

Belmonte also underlined the need to beat the basic requirements of making the city safe, clean and attractive to business and industry. "Once the basics are met, modern infrastructures would surely sprout like flowers in a garden. Even mega-centers with complete amenities are sure consequences."

"Political will, tempered by my solid experiences in fiscal management and a consultative governance, will be an effective antidote to the litany of problems the city had been facing for decades," declared Belmonte who once "piloted" the Philippine Airlines to its most profitable operations without borrowing money and not firing a single employee.

SB’s focus under his "good government" platform will be on the problems of garbage, criminality, housing, health, education and livelihood, among others. "These are the basic problems we have to neutralize first before we can effectively implement our dream of a modern and world class city."

To effect his pro-people and business-friendly programs, Belmonte assured the creation of the "QCDC" where all sectors will be represented and heard in all levels of program planning, implementation, maintenance and monitoring.

"Every citizen is important. Our programs must first be understood by the residents. We all must shoulder the responsibility of reforming our attitudes as citizens and government should serve the best interests of the governance," he pointed out.

The SB administration, he added, would be a people-propelled leadership in which each sector will have its voice, Belmonte told his approving audiences during his relentless political rallies in all the four districts of the city.

SB noted that residents have had to go out of the city to relax and enjoy weekends with their families. "We have to make our city safe by day or night. We want a place where we can walk in the shades of trees, confident of our safety."

Belmonte is determined to make the city a center of business and industry even as it already boasts of being a cultural and educational center with existing institutions that include the University of the Philippines, whose Diliman campus has a film center, concert halls and theaters for the performing arts.

The prospective mayoralty also seeks to establish additional government vocational and technical institutions to train human resources to be more competitive in skills demanded by the modern computer age.

"We will bring skills training at the door steps of the urban poor. Before we can improve on anything else, we must improve and develop our human resource which is not lacking in talents," said the long-time Quezon City congressman.