This is one of the promises made by Minglanilla Mayor Rajiv Enad during his first State of the Town Address (Sota) on Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2022, where he discussed his accomplishments during his first 100 days in office.
Enad’s Sota also coincided with the town’s 160th founding anniversary and with National Teachers Day.
Enad said the town officials decided to give public school teachers a monthly allowance as a way of recognizing their hard work.
He said he already requested members of the Minglanilla Municipal Council led by Vice Mayor Elanito Peña to include the monthly stipend for public school teachers in next year’s annual budget.
The mayor, however, won’t disclose yet how much each teacher will get.
“This is just a small amount. But even if it’s a small amount, this is a form of thanks to all of our public school teachers who have made a lot of sacrifices and effort to educate our youth,” Enad added.
Improving traffic
In his speech, Enad also reported improvements in traffic management, personnel services, flood mitigation, health and social services.
He said the town’s traffic monitoring capability improved with the installation of a state-of-the-art traffic command center in August.
Also in August, the mayor appointed Glenn Antigua as the new chief of the Minglanilla Traffic Command (Mitcom). Antigua was the operations chief of the Traffic Enforcement Agency of Mandaue.
Enad also announced that the town is preparing to bid out the contract for the purchase of new traffic lights to replace the old ones.
Aside from improvements in Mitcom’s capabilities, Enad also requested Peña and members of the council to craft legislation that would help improve the town’s traffic situation.
In Enad’s first 100 days in office, the Municipal Council passed three ordinances on first reading aimed at addressing traffic congestion, including penalizing those who deliberately obstruct the town’s major and minor roads, and imposing a strict truck ban on certain hours of the day.
For long-term solutions, Enad met with Rep. Rhea Mae Gullas (Cebu, 1st) and officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Provincial Planning and Development Office to discuss plans to open diversion roads in order to decongest the town’s main highway.
To address flooding in the town, Enad said he asked the Municipal Engineering Office (MEO) and Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office to continue declogging drainage systems in flooded areas and to dredge and clean waterways to prepare them for heavy rains.
Municipal officials are also in talks with private partners to come up with a drainage master plan, which will include “ridge to reef” drainage projects particularly from Barangays Pinggan, Pakigne and Tungkil; from Pakigne to Calajoan; from Poblacion to Tulay; from Wards 4, 2 and Tulay; from Tunghaan to Springwood Subdivision to Tulay; and from Guindarohan to Tunghaan to Tungkop.
As for public health, Enad reported that the free mobile diagnostics and medical mission he started a day after he took his oath of office continue to benefit residents of the town’s 19 barangays.
He said Minglanilla is one of the few local government units (LGU) in the province that has a cancer prevention program, which offers free pap smear, cervical visual inspection and breast examination for women.
The town is also one of two LGUs in the first district that offers HPV-DNA testing, which is crucial in early detection and treatment of cervical cancer.
Enad added that their rural health office was recently accredited by the Department of Health as a social hygiene clinic, allowing it to conduct screening, treatment and counseling for people with HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases.
He added that the town is also one of the pioneers for the Community-Based Drug Rehabilitation and Treatment Program in the region, where they train members of the Barangay Drug Council to conduct random screening and symposium as a way to promote a drug-free town.
Other health programs such as the continuous search, destroy and surveillance strategy against dengue and its ongoing Covid-19 vaccination have been intensified to ensure that their constituents are protected against these deadly diseases.
Solid waste
Enad also reported improvements in the garbage collection and solid waste management.
The town plans to buy large dumpsters that can store 15 to 20 tons of garbage and place them in strategic areas in the barangays in order to address garbage collection problems.
Enad also added that the council already approved several ordinances aimed to improve solid waste management such as the ordinance penalizing people who are caught improperly disposing of their garbage and other similar acts; and an ordinance that implements garbage segregation.
He also ordered a ban on the extraction of sand and gravel in the town’s rivers to mitigate its negative impact on the environment.
Tourism and SMEs
Enad said in terms of tourism, they have conducted a rapid assessment to identify potential tourist attractions and draft the town’s Cultural Development Plan for 2023.
The town has reorganized the Minglanilla Council on Tourism, Culture and the Arts that would facilitate the rapid assessment.
They also supported the town’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) by promoting their products to the rest of Cebu.
Enad said they participated in the One Cebu Expo and the Cebu Exhibition of the Cebu Provincial Government in order to promote their town’s products.
He also supported the return of their yearly Kabanhawan Festival and other fiesta activities after a two-year hiatus due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The fiesta activities have provided an avenue for Minglanilla’s creative industry to showcase their craft, Enad added.
Earlier this year, Enad also led the opening of the Abante Park, where SMEs could display and sell their products.
Using social media as a platform, Enad also launched “Flavors of Minglanilla,” a promotional campaign to help the food establishments operating in the town.
In terms of infrastructure, Enad said some infrastructure projects have been implemented. Services at the Municipal Hall were also improved through strict monitoring of tardiness at work. The town’s website was also launched to promote transparency.
“As mayor, I am putting both our feet humbly and firmly on the ground. Humbly, because we need to embrace our current deficiencies and hounding problems and accept them as challenges. Firmly, because we are determined in our resolve, and we are unwavering in our resolve and in our plans and goals for a better and brighter Minglanilla,” Enad added.