GMA proclaims local bets in QC rallies

President Arroyo lauded Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. for transforming Quezon from a financially distressed local government unit to the richest city in the country.

"Quezon City is now the richest city in the Philippines," the President told cheering crowds in a series of proclamation rallies held the other night in various parts of the city.

The Commission on Audit recently declared Quezon City the richest in Metro Manila, registering a net surplus of P2.01 million. It posted the biggest income among the 17 cities and municipalities in the National Capital Region in 2002 with P5.3 billion. The dramatic turnaround has also earned the city a distinction of having the most outstanding mayor in the Philippines.

Mrs. Arroyo accompanied by her senatorial lineup proclamained candidates in Quezon City, including the mayor, congressmen,and councilors in the four districts of the city, before supporters who gathered at the SB Plaza in Novaliches.

TV hosts Kris Aquino and Boy Abunda were on hand to express their support to the administration candidates.

After the rally in Novalichies, the SB "Performance Team" proceeded to proclamation rally on Roosevelt Avenue in District 1, followed by another at the Kamuning market in Distict 4, where crowds made up mostly of vendors gave the mayor and his party a rousing welcome.

The city governement has given vendors in the city priority areas where they can sell their wares legally.

Belmonte assured the people that he would continue the progress he has initiated toward making Quezon City a "quality community." He said poor people in the city now have a chance to own their own homes through the city’s medium-rise housing program.

The mayor cited the effort to reconstitute land titles which were destroyed during a fire at city hall in June1988. The expense for the reconstitution of titles is being shouldered by the government.

He said that the concreting of roads, construction of more schools and the development of super health centers as well as the delivery of medicines and modern medical facilities were among the priority programs of the city government. – Perseus Echeminada