CEBU, Philippines - Ormoc City was in a festive mode yesterday for the 4th anniversary of the state-of-the-art City Hall building, which replaced the old one at Aviles Street.
The celebration, which coincided also with the birthday of Mayor Edward Codilla, was stated with a Mass in the building's lobby, celebrated by Msgr. Dido Arroyo with Fr. Pian of the Mother of the Redeemer Parish.
Codilla expressed his joy by saying: "This is a very significant occasion both in my personal and public life." He told the public that having a modern City Hall was already a success for the stakeholders.
"The most important thing is that we have provided a decent and comfortable place for our taxpayers," he said, as he also reminded City Hall employees to help each other for the good of the city through honest public service. "Public office is a public trust," he said.
The Ormoc City Hall has a total floor area of 1.6 hectares, and is equipped with a service elevator, centralized air-conditioning, motion censored-glass doors and computer-based transactions, among other features. Observers widely regarded it as an intelligent building in the Visayas area,
Despite the devastating effects of typhoon Yolanda, the building still stands to this date and became the symbol of hope, resiliency and tenacity for all the eastern Visayas victims, donors and observers including the United Nations, which uses it as its central command post, even hoisting its flag in the terrace of the building. (FREEMAN)