MAYOR JANE MEETS PRESIDENT BONGBONG. Tagbilaran City Mayor Jane Yap (left) engages in a conversation with President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. (right) during a casual meeting at Malacañang. This meeting took place on Aug. 3, 2022 after a larger meeting was held where the President invited the officials of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) to discuss key issues including investment potentials and the possible postponement of the barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) elections which are scheduled this December 2022. Mayor Yap is an official of the LCP occupying the position of regional representative for Region 7.
Majority of the officials of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) proposed to President Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr. the postponement of the Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (BSK) elections slated in December 2022.
This was disclosed by Tagbilaran City mayor Jane Yap in a radio interview over Open Forum on Aug. 5, 2022, hosted by the mother and son tandem of Ardy and Chandymar Araneta-Batoy.
The LCP officials paid the President a visit on Aug. 2, 2022 and mayor Yap was among those able to attend the meeting, she, being the regional representative of Region 7 in the LCP.
Yap said that the majority decision of LCP officials is aligned with the opinion of the president to defer the elections, and hold it possibly in 2023.
Yap said that in the meeting, majority of the city mayors think that it is prudent to hold the elections in December 2023 instead of this year.
The mayor added that there is a slim chance for the BSK elections will happen by the end of this year.
“Ako pud, uyon pod ko nga next year na lang [ang elections],” she said.
POSTPONEMENT
Postponing the BSK elections is in the hands of Congress and it is a fact that Marcos Jr.’s allies in Congress form a super majority and it is possible that a postponement is in the offing.
HELPING HAND
Mayor Yap said that a resolution will soon be crafted establishing a system of cooperation between highly progressive cities such as those in Metro Manila and developing cities such as Tagbilaran.
The purpose of the linkage is to provide a platform for the dissemination of best practices of more developed cities to be adopted by developing cities especially in the countryside, the mayor explained during the interview.
“For example, kung ang Tagbilaran makig partner sa Taguig, ang good practices ngadto [sa Taguig], ma adopt put nato sa atong syudad sa Tagbilaran,” she quipped.
ON THE BUDGET
Another topic discussed during the meeting is the budget of the cities, which, according to Yap, is impacted by lower national tax allocation (NTA) or formerly known as internal revenue allotment (IRA). Due to the decline in revenue collection caused by the slowdown in the economy as a result of the Coronavirus disease (Covid), the NTA of local government units (LGU) has dropped resulting into a decline in the local budget of provinces, cities, towns and barangays.
Marcos Jr., mayor Yap said, challenged the city mayors to search for alternative sources of funds to be used in various plans, programs and activities. He said that he is willing to act as a broker between the cities and the private sector for funding especially on infrastructure projects.
“Willing sya [Marcos Jr.] mo bridge sa mga private investors, especially in terms of infrastructure programs para sa mga syudad sa Pilipinas,” the mayor said during the interview.
DIGITALIZATION
The city mayors were also briefed on the various digitalization efforts of government offices.
Coincidentally, Mayor Yap’s first executive order after assuming into office was about digitalization.