Quezon City programs get various awards

MANILA, Philippines — Several initiatives and programs of the Quezon City government recently received several recognitions and bagged various international and local government awards.

The city’s Facebook page, managed by the local government’s public affairs and information services department, bagged a gold for being the most innovative Facebook page in the 2023 Asia-Pacific Stevie Awards, considered as the world’s premier business awards.

Gold, silver and bronze Stevie Award winners were determined by the average scores of more than 150 professionals around the world. Winners will be celebrated at a virtual ceremony on June 27.

“Being recognized by an international award-giving body is a tremendous honor for our city. This is a part of our aim to provide timely and valuable information to our constituents through social media. This award is a testament of the quality of work that we provide our QCitizens,” Mayor Joy Belmonte said in a statement yesterday.

Earlier, Quezon City’s recyclable waste trading program “Trash to Cashback” was also recognized for its outstanding performance in the 2022 Global Smart Solution Report.

City architect Lucille Chua received the recognition during the 2023 Smart City Summit & Expo in Taipei last March 30.

“As we strive to becoming a smart city, the city ensures that every program and policy that we craft is sustainable, resilient, and environment-friendly. At the same time, we also put in mind that everything we do should always improve the lives of our residents by providing them efficient services that are responsive to their needs,” Belmonte said of the recognition.

Since its launch in 2021, the “Trash to Cashback” program has collected over 124,000 kilos of recyclable waste that the residents were able to exchange into environmental points that they can use to buy groceries or pay utility bills. 

Meanwhile, the city also bagged four awards and citations from the Digital Governance Awards of the Department of Information and Communications Technology.

The city’s Automated Document Delivery System topped the Business Empowerment City Level category, while the QC Biz Easy: Online Unified Business Permit Application System placed second in the Government Internal Operations City Level category. The QC E-Services ranked third under the Customer Empower City Level classification. 

Quezon City also received the Special Citation Award for the city’s Automated Document Delivery System under the Transformational and Disruptive Solutions City Level category. 

Urban farmer leaders under the Grow QC program also accepted awards during the Vietnam International Achiever Awards. 

The Urban Farmers Federation received the Most Innovative Urban Gardening of the New Millennium in Asia recognition for their commitment to ensuring food security.

Lamberto Nolasco, an urban farmer representative in the people’s council of Quezon City, was also named one of the body’s Socio-Civic Leader and Advocate for Urban Development awardee.