The Local Government Leadership Awards or LGLA was born through the efforts of Sen. Aquilino Q. Pimentel Jr., considered father of the Local Government Code, with partner institutions including the Center for Local and Regional Governance, Ateneo School of Government, University of San Carlos, Mindanao State University, and the Asian Institute of Journalism and Communication.
The awardees merit separate columns, but for now, our focus is Quezon City Mayor Belmonte, popularly called SB. A law graduate of Lyceum of the Philippines (he earned his degree while working as a young reporter at Manila Chronicle), his career in government service started in 1960 when he served as presidential staff assistant of then President Diosdado Macapagal, then as special assistant to the Department of Finance, Bureau of Customs, and Central Bank of the Philippines. In 1986, President Corazon Aquino appointed him to head government-owned corporations that were on the brink of bankruptcy. As president and chief executive officer of Philippine Airlines, he managed to register an unprecedented profit of P1.2 billion for the flagship carrier, enabling it to pay all its obligation without borrowing a single peso or even firing a single employee.
He was elected congressman of the fourth district of Quezon City three times, and was able to serve both as House Minority Leader and House Speaker. He played a lead role in the prosecution panel during the impeachment trial of former President Joseph Estrada.
During the local elections of May 2001, he ran for mayor of Quezon City. At the LGLA ceremonies last month, he recalled that people told him that he had "committed political suicide" when he decided to run for mayor, and that he should "not pursue a second time". By that second time, he didn’t say running for mayor again, or for senator. But whatever his decision, his accomplishments as chief executive of the premiere city of the Philippines will show that he has superior skills in governance and in returning people’s trust in government officials.
From Day 1 of his administration, SB set out to put to work his collective vision and mission for the city as a "quality community". He created "participative and decentralized" leadership even up to the barangay level. In an unprecedented move, he gave all the city’s 142 barangay leaders greater fiscal autonomy through full control of their real property tax shares as mandated by law. He responded to the unsettling problems of garbage collection and lack of housing for indigent residents.
In his first 18 months of his term, he did what seemed impossible. At his assumption to office, the city was besieged by claims for payment of P1.4 billion, bank debts of P1.25 million, and a negative cash balance of P10.35 million. At the end of 2002, the city had wiped out all its deficits, settled most of its accounts payable, kept pace with all current bills, and banked a positive cash balance of P1.5 billion.
The city’s income had come about through an aggressive collection system, discounts and other innovations. These resulted in big increases in real estate tax and business tax collections, regulatory fees, transfer taxes, and market collections.
In short, SB has transformed a financially distressed local government unit into the richest city in the Philippines, according to the Commission on Audit. If that is not a miracle, what is? His feat led Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Joey Lina to call Quezon City the "best managed city".
The mayor created quite a stir with the savings he made in garbage collection expenses. With his elevation of a task force into a city department responsible for delivering city services, the amount previously spent on garbage collection (averaging P69.52 million a month) has been reduced to an average of P20 to P25 million a month. The system used does away with corrupt practices, and results in reported resident-satisfaction.
The city’s policy towards meeting the housing needs of the poor population is not giving them land but providing them with dwelling units. The 2003 target is to produce five medium-rise buildings which can house 400 fa-milies.
The participatory approach has partnerships with civil society. The mayor believes in private sector collaboration, and this is manifested in regular meetings with business people, community leaders and NGOs to help in the implementation of a Comprehensive Quezon City Deve-lopment Plan. Community participation includes helping in the garbage collection and waste management projects, crime prevention and detection, as well as anti-drug campaigns. His programs for the youth and gender equity are models for local government units.
The mayor is a stickler for honesty and sincerity in government service. He is said to have acted swiftly on complaints against erring officials, validated these, suspended those with strong evidence of wrongdoing, and filed the appropriate cases with the courts through the city Legal Office. Those found guilty are dismissed and subject to punishments meted by law.
Our congratulations to Mayor Belmonte. I will vote him mayor again. Unfortunately, I am not a resident of Quezon City. If he runs for the Senate, he will be at the top of my ballot.