Cortes: Mandaue City economically healthy

CEBU, Philippines — “The city is in the pink of economic health,” so declared Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes during his State of the City Address (SOCA) yesterday at the jampacked City Sports and Cultural Complex.

This pronouncement rings true for the city government employees as few minutes prior to his SOCA, the City Council has approved on its second and final reading three ordinances granting cash incentives for all government workers in the city, an increase in the honorarium of P600 per month for clean and green workers and barangay health workers and an increase of P57 per day for the honorarium for job order workers.

City Councilor Maline Cortes-Zafra has authored the three ordinances.

Ordinance No. 231-2023 gives all personnel of the City of Government of Mandaue, whether appointive or elective, with permanent and temporary appointments as of 15 August 2023 a cash incentive of P15,000.

The second ordinance gave all Clean and Green Personnel and Barangay Health and Nutrition Workers (BHINWs) in the city a P600 increase in their monthly honorarium from April 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023 only, and will revert back to the original monthly honoraria thereafter.

Ordinance No. 233-2023 has granted a P57 increase in the daily honorarium for services rendered per month by the Job Order Personnel of Mandaue City from April 1, 2023 - July 31, 2023 only, but shall not exceed P5,000.

The P57 increase is on top of the increase of P35 in the daily honorarium of Job Order Personnel for those receiving P380 per day only from January 1, 2023 - December 31, 2023 per Ordinance 16-2023-1805.

Thereafter, the daily honorarium for services actually rendered by the job Order Personnel will revert back to the original amount prior to the increase.

“As we grow and move with the times, our job as stewards of Mandaue is far from over. I am grateful for this privilege to report our progress over the past year to move Mandaue closer to becoming a resilient city,” part of Cortes’ 12-page speech.

He said the city anchors its way forward on three strategic pillars namely resilient economy, resilient community and sustainable environment.

For the resilient economy, Cortes said that as of June 2023, the city’s total revenue increased by 4.34 percent as compared to last year, this despite a 16.39 percent drop in their national tax allotment.

The mayor said the business tax collection saw a 9.9 percent increase between January and July 2022 within the same period in 2022.

“This increase validates that business confidence remains strong as more companies register in Mandaue,” the mayor said.

Cortes added that in 2022, there were 16,845 registered businesses and still midway in 2023, the city’s business registration already reached 16,278.

“These businesses translate to more jobs for Mandauehanons,” he said.

The mayor cited that these businesses convert to rise in renewed capital investment of P57.98 billion from P55.89 billion, as this resulted to more employment.

He said that all efforts of the city in improving its services like online business transactions, licensing processes, among others, has led to the city being recognized as the 2022 Most Business-Friendly local government unit-City Level by the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry.

For the resilient community, this pillar carries the heart of their stewardship in the city like the creation of purok system, barangayan, Tabang Mandaue program, helping the needs of solo parents and senior citizens by giving them financial assistance, giving public health as a major concern in the community and even valuing pets by strengthening responsible pet ownership.

The mayor also tackled how his administration gave importance to education citing that all 2,184 enrollees of Mandaue City College for the school year 2022-2023 enjoy free tuition as scholars of the city, improved school equipment, among others.

Aside from services, the mayor said the city is also improving both soft and hard infrastructure including the construction of a new government center, the future seat of the city government which aims to centralize offices and other government agencies as the city is moving forward to the future.

The city is also developing the Tipolo Residences, a five building mid-rise socialized housing community; the construction of the Pasilong sa Paradise, a temporary housing shelter for Looc fire victims; as well as more socialized housing for vulnerable families and government employees.

As for the third pillar, the city has established a mangrove nursery to propagate them and move young Mandauehanons and fisherfolks to be its protectors; enhanced the entrepreneurial solid waste diversion program by engaging with barangays and private establishments to upcycle or recycle as a source of livelihood for the community, among others.

“Together, let us move as one, harmonizing our aspirations and propelling our city towards a glorious future, where the movement of progress resounds to the communities and the movement of our unity reverberates, moving Mandaue into a beacon of inspiration and possibility. Join me as we move through this journey, moving the spirit of transformation within Mandaue and forging the home of our desires a home where we proclaim with pride: I am Mandaue,” the mayor said. — (FREEMAN)