NAGA CITY --- Coming a day ahead of the inaugural speech of charismatic US President-elect Barack Obama, Naga City Mayor Jesse M. Robredo during the Sangguniang Panglunsod regular session here last Tuesday, Jan. 20, delivered the city government’s 2008 operating highlights and assured his constituents of what to expect in the next 12 months of 2009.
The mayor underscored that while 2008 was hit by a global crisis that spared no one, the city did well during that period under difficult circumstances. “Judging by our performance indicators across the board, they were generally better than the past year (2007),” the city mayor said.
On economic services, the city maintained its standing among the Top 10 most competitive in the small cities category of the biennial city competitive survey conducted by the Asian Institute of Management, though there was a slight slip in the ranking (vis-à-vis the 2007 AIM survey, “especially in areas not directly within our control.” He said this should be a cause for concern, not only for the city government but for other stakeholders in the city.
He said that in terms of investment value, the city in 2008 still managed to register solid growth: an average of 117% increase (from P774.3M in 2007 to P1.682B in 2008), broken down as follows:
-113% for new enterprises (from P341.5 to P728.7 million);
-55% for building construction (from P373.3 to P576.9 million),
and
-533% in property development (from P59.5 to P376.1 million).
Using the standard investment-to-job conversion rate, these investments translated to 6,727 new jobs added into the local economy.
The mayor said the biggest investment to date is the SM City Mall that is set to open on May 15, 2009 at CBD II. Also at CBD II, Phase 1 of the multi-million peso Bicol Access Health Centrum, a health and wellness facility, has also started construction.
City Market
The city mayor reported that the Naga City Public Market actually generated a total revenue of P22.4 million for 2008, which is 11% higher than 2007’s P20.1 million before the November 6, 2008 fire that destroyed the second and third floors of the 40-year old facility.
“Nonetheless, the conflagration, while creating dislocation and inconvenience to occupants and the general public, also presents us an opportunity to build/rebuild a new and better facility that will be more competitive and responsive to modern needs of our citizens – and one that will anchor on the ongoing renewal of CBD I,” Robredo stressed.
Pilgrimage city
Being the center of religious history in Bicol, Naga City will play a key role in the grand preparations for the Tercentenary, or 300th year celebration of the Bicolanos’ devotion to Nuestra Señora de Penafrancia that will culminate in 2010.
The mayor said a concept paper has been prepared for the installation of commemorative landmarks and historico-religious structures to highlight a devotion that started around 100 years after the establishment of the Diocese of Caceres on August 15, 1595.
Protective services
2008 saw the upgrading of the Naga City Police Office from its previous category as a mere police station to become an operating unit independent of the provincial police command, the first and only so far for a Bicol city.
During the year, and under a new city police director, crime rate was down by 10%, from 1,714 crime incidents in 2007 to 1,542 in 2008. “Of these 87% were solved, 12 percentage points better than previous year’s crime solution efficiency,” the mayor reported.
The mayor also reported that the number of fire incidents in the city went down by 16% compared to 2007. However, he said, estimated damages went up by 97%, brought about mainly by the fire that hit the Naga City Public Market which displaced 331 stallholders.
What is in store for 2009?
Mayor Robredo promised that the city government will continue to maintain, if not surpass, the governance standards of which it has earned a name for itself and its people. “We will ensure that public spending for the year will translate to better outcomes where they matter --- jobs and livelihood, public health, housing, education and social safety nets aimed at the bottom 20% of our household population,” the mayor concluded.
