QC mayor vows to pursue more development projects

Quezon City Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. vowed yesterday to pursue more development programs to uplift the lives of the urban poor, which comprises half of the city’s 2.4 million population.

Speaking to City Hall employees who offered him belated birthday greetings, the mayor attributed the gains achieved by his administration to the full of support of city government employees and the city’s residents.

"Ang lakas natin ay nasa mamamayan," the mayor said.

He said any gains to be attained by the city government would benefit and uplift the living condition of the urban poor people in the city.

The mayor urged the people to get involved in community development, to be concerned with the plight of neighbors and to promote the bayanihan spirit, which calls for the involvement of everyone in nation building.

Belmonte also called on senior citizens, who were among those who lined up to greet him "Happy Birthday," to continue pursuing productive public lives even if they have retired from private or government service.

The mayor, who turned 69 last Sunday, won his second term as mayor by a landslide victory in the last elections.

During his first term in office, Belmonte was declared the most outstanding city mayor of the Philippines. Under his stewardship, Quezon City was transformed from a financially distressed local government unit into the richest city in the country.

Under the Belmonte administration, the city was also declared the most business friendly, the best managed city and one of the most livable in the country.

Among the major activities of the city government during the mayor’s birthday celebration was a free medical service conducted by the St. Luke’s Medical Center.

A job fair was also held at City Hall yesterday while the mayor met with barangay officials and visited various social service centers that cater to the needs street children and youth offenders.

La Naval in QC

Meanwhile, Belmonte will lead city officials in welcoming a replica of the venerated image of the Our Lady of La Naval today at the City Hall lobby to usher the start of festivities for the city’s 66th founding anniversary celebration.

The mayor urged Catholic devotees in the city to attend the nine-day Masses the city government has scheduled from Oct. 4 to 12 at noon to 1 p.m. at the lobby in honor of the city’s patroness.

This is one of the highlights of this year’s festivities for the celebration of the city’s founding anniversary, which has theme, "Proud Ako, Taga-QC Ako, Mayaman sa Kasaysayan, Magandang Kinabukasan."

Capping the nine-day visit of the image will be a Thanksgiving Mass on Oct. 12.

The image of the La Naval will be fetched from the Sto. Domingo Church where arrival rites, including a motorcade, have been prepared by the city government as a tribute to the venerated image.

Sponsoring the religious activities lined up during the occasion are the various line offices and departments of the city government.

The image of the Our Lady of La Naval, the oldest and most popular image of the Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in the Philippines, was originally venerated in the Old Dominican Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros, Manila.

Manila lost the image after the war when the Sto. Domingo Church in Intramuros was destroyed by Japanese bombs. It was relocated to the Sto. Domingo Church in Quezon City where festivities in honor of La Naval have since been annually held.

The Our Lady of La Naval was officially adopted as the patroness of Quezon City by virtue of Resolution 9645 enacted by the City Council on Aug. 21, 1983.