QC looks back at quality year

The year 2002 in Quezon City saw quality governance which brought about remarkable changes in the city and residents as the city government laid the groundwork to make the late President Manuel L. Quezon’s dream city a quality community.

After 18 months at the helm, Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. is well on track to achieving that goal, with strong working partnership with the city’s more than 2.2 million population, under the battle cry: "Work together to build a Quezon City that we all love to work and live in."

Early this year, Belmonte, acquiring the political will and the passion for service needed to power reforms, initiated innovations and created greater opportunities for collaboration between citizens and government to encourage efficiency in governance and judicious use of resources – spending the least for the best gains.

To attain this, the city government conducted regular weekly meetings with heads of offices and departments to ensure that all city executives are regularly kept abreast of programs and developments in other areas of the city government and enhance each other’s gains and complement efforts.

Belmonte, determined as ever to achieve his mission in providing the city residents with the best possible delivery of basic services with less but more dedicated manpower, had to adopt cost-cutting measures which resulted in the non-renewal of the service of contract of more than 2,000 employees late last year.

The city government tapped computer technology instead, making government services more accessible to the general public, including the installation of 24 point-of-sale terminals at the city’s new taxpayer’s lounges to make payments processing and recording faster. Another taxpayer lounge will be operational by this month to expedite further the processing of business permit applications.

When Belmonte assumed office on July 1, 2001, he inherited claims for payments amount to over P1.4 billion, and a bank debt of P1.25 billion, past due remittances to GSIS, BIR and Meralco bills and others amounting to P620 million, aside from other claims amounting to more than P56 million.

The uncomfortable situation motivated the city government to aggressively pursue measures to boost revenue collections.

The city government penalized delinquent taxpayers by offering their properties for auction and initiated measures that would minimize the dissipation of revenues due to corruption.

Within one year, the Belmonte administration paid P580 million in inherited accounts. The city has collected some P5.3 billion in revenues as of Dec. 19 , surpassing its annual budgetary requirements by P133 million.

City Treasurer Dr. Victor Endriga said the city government has projected P5.2 billion in revenues this year and an increase of 30-40 percent annually up to year 2004.

Infrastructure. To provide the needed infrastructure for a metropolis as large as QC, the city government tapped all possible funds it could get hold of, including the Speaker’s Fund, City General Funds and Special Education Fund amounting to P1.39 billion.

The city government is developing intra-community roads, such as those linking Mindanao Avenue and Barangay Talipapa to San Bartolome, and from there to Gen. Luis street in Barangay Nagkaisang-Nayon, providing access to major roads through a network of inter-connecting streets.

Housing. The city government has programmed to provide decent low-cost housing for the homeless, using the most cost-effective technologies and construction materials for the least cost and least space of land, under the Housing and Urban Renewal Authority (HURA), which will be put into operation once the city council approves the proposal.

Traffic management. To remove eyesores and traffic obstructions in the streets, the city government prioritized the Manggahan/Commonwealth area in its clearing operations, which resulted in the clearing of some 1,800 illegal vendors and easing the flow of traffic and commuters.

Other priority areas include the widening of Regalado Avenue for easier access to Fairview, Sauyo and Bagba, all in Novaliches. The city government also developed an alternative route through Katipunan Avenue, a street parallel to Quirino Highway. The government is negotiating to acquire a property that will allow Katipunan Road to link directly to Nagkaisang Nayon and Bulacan, to decongest traffic along Quirino Highway.

Environment protection. The city government is spending P45.1 million a month for the collection of the city’s 1,500 metric tons of garbage daily, for which the previous administration spent up to P82.7 million a month to collect, thus tackling the garbage problem and saving money in the process.

To date, about 15,940 linear meters of waterways have been cleared of debris and obstructions to smoothen the flow of water in the city’s waterways, creeks and esteros to make them pollution and flood-free.