The City of Santa Rosa opened the year by giving the gift of opportunity to its people… opportunity for all and not just a few.
“Ito ang nais kong maging tatak ng aking pamamahala – ang pagbibigay ng dangal sa lahat ng mamamayan lalo’t higit sa mga nangangailangan ng tulong na maibalik ang kanilang dangal bilang tao at mamamayan ng lungsod na ito,” said Santa Rosa Mayor Danilo Ramon S. Fernandez.
These gifts of opportunity are seen in the programs offered by the city, as well as the recognitions it received. These demonstrate that the administration is truly working for an inclusive style of governance.
“Sa pamamagitan ng mga ito, binibigyan natin ng dangal ng bawat mamamayan, sapagkat ang mamamayan din ang magsisikhay upang mas umarangkada pa ang Lungsod ng Santa Rosa,” the mayor said, referring to his slogan ARANGKADA DANGAL NG SANTA ROSA.
Dangal ng Pagbabago
On January 14, the City formally opened its drug rehabilitation center, the first ever local government unit-operated rehab center in the country. Aptly called the Dangal ng Pagbabago Rehabilitation Center, Mayor Dan implemented this program as an immediate response to President Rodrigo Duterte’s call to address the need for a facility to help rehabilitate the drug dependents who voluntarily surrendered to the Police during the conduct of Operation Tokhang.
This, along with many other efforts of the city, was lauded by Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief Police Director General Ronald Dela Rosa.
The PNP chief said he is impressed with Mayor Dan’s commitment, and added that the city’s Community-Based Rehabilitation Program is one of the most comprehensive and extensive in the country.
He stressed that if only all mayors in the country will be pro-active like Mayor Dan, then the war on drugs would end sooner just like how he and President Duterte dreamed of.
According to Gen. Dela Rosa, the war on drugs is a “whole-nation” approach, so he called on all other stakeholders to remain aware about and get involved in their respective communities. He also urged drug surrenderees take advantage of this rehabilitation program by the local government of Santa Rosa and reminded them to not slide back to their addiction.
Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Undersecretary John Castriciones, PNP Regional Director PC Supt Valfrie Gacias Tabian, Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) Director and concurrent DILG CALABARZON Regional Director Manuel Gotis graced the event. Laguna Governor Ramil Hernandez and First District Representative Arlene B. Arcillas were also present.
Gen. Dela Rosa first visited the city on August 24, 2016 during the groundbreaking of the Dangal ng Pagbabago Rehabilitation Center. The center is located in Tiongco Subd., Brgy. Tagapo.
As of last year, 1,355 illegal drug personalities in the city voluntarily surrendered during the Operation Tokhang.
Other measures implemented by the city in response to President Duterte’s call to action include Executive Order No. 10 establishing the Special Projects Group (SPG) on Anti-Criminality on July 28, 2016; Office Memorandum regarding Mandatory Drug Testing for all City Government Employees dated August 2, 2016; Executive Order No. 23 constituting the City Anti-Drug Abuse Council (CADAC) on November 29, 2016.
Blue Certification from the Ombudsman
Efficient and effective services to its people are also on top of the list of the present administration.
The Business One Stop Shop (BOSS) can also be considered another gift of the city to its taxpayers. In the BOSS, the offices involved in business renewal are assembled in one venue to facilitate the process, thus making it more convenient to clients.
In fact, the BOSS is one of the positive features of the city which enabled it to obtain the Blue Certification Level I from the Office of the Ombudsman on December 13, 2016.
The recognition stated that the BPLO of the City of Santa Rosa “has implemented and maintains a system that conforms to the ease of doing business standards for Blue Certification.” The scope of the certification is registration of new businesses and renewal of business permits.
“We were informed that the City of Santa Rosa is the only city in CALABARZON to receive this award so this is very overwhelming,” said Business Permits and Licensing Office (BPLO) head Olivia Laurel.
“Usually when public officials go to the Ombudsman, it is something negative. But now we went there because we have done something positive,” she said. One of the top requirements for the certification is that the City Mayor must not have any case in the Ombudsman.
According to the BPLO head, the good news came after the city hit the Php1 billion target for business taxes, “So nakaka-proud talaga. Saka this recognition strengthens our position as a business-friendly city, something that we always aimed for.”
Further, Laurel said that the award recognizes the city’s effective implementation of its services with regards to business registration and renewal. “It means that we have complied with the requirements of Anti-Red Tape Act and that we have streamlined our processes,” Laurel said.
“This award is not exclusive to the BPLO, but this is a product of the concerted efforts of all offices and agencies that are part of the business registration and renewal,” she explained.
The next audit will be done after three years, as indicated in the certificate that the date of certification is December 13, 2016 and will expire on December 12, 2019.
“The challenge now is to maintain the standard and of course to intensify our efforts to further improve and streamline our services so we can get the Level 2 Certification after three years,” said the BPLO head.
As of September 30, 2016, the city has registered a total of 948 new businesses while 4,762 businesses filed for renewal.
ISO 9001:2008 Certified
During the term of then-Mayor now Laguna First District Representative Arlene B. Arcillas, she pushed for participatory governance and took on the challenge to make the quality of the city’s services comparable with international standards.
When Mayor Dan assumed office as mayor of Santa Rosa, he continued the mission to bring the City towards further progress. To do this, he identified areas that his administration will concentrate on to ensure that the ride to a more progressive City of Santa Rosa will be smooth for its people as captured in his call to action Arangkada, Dangal ng Santa Rosa!
One identified area is the maintenance and improvement of the quality of services, and the seen measure to realize this is to get certified through ISO 9001:2008 Quality Management System.
The first step was already taken by the three pioneer offices during the time of Congresswoman Arlene. The Office of the City Planning and Development Coordinator (CPDO), Public Employment Service Office (PESO), and Office of the City Civil Registrar (CCRO) were certified in 2015, and have passed the Surveillance Audit in 2016.
The second batch of offices include the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO), City Health Office I (CHO I), City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office, City Veterinary Office, City Information Office (CIO) and the Office of the City Mayor.
Pre-certification activities included awareness seminars, planning sessions, documentation activities per office and as a whole, and the Internal Quality Auditors’ Training which included an examination and a practice audit.
The second batch underwent audit on December 14 and December 21, 2016. They received the thumbs up from the auditors and were confirmed as ISO 9001:2008 Certified Offices also on December 21, 2016.
The ISO champions believe that the certification further raised the bar in public service and ultimately led to achieving the current administration’s call for inclusive governance.
Excellent health and nutrition programs
The city closed the year 2016 with numerous awards mostly gained by the health and nutrition sector. These are considered as proof that the city gives the gift of being healthy and happy to all its residents.
The City Health Office I and CHO II were both recognized as the Best in TB HIV Implementation among all Category A & B sites of CALABARZON for the year 2015 by DOH IV-A. This is for the two offices’ “commitment in the implementation of National Tuberculosis Control Program in CALABARZON.”
The City Nutrition Office was also awarded the First Year Consistent Regional Outstanding Winner in Nutrition (CROWN) maintenance by the National Nutrition Council for its “efficient and effective implementation and management of its City Nutrition Program which resulted to the improvement of the nutrition situation in the city especially among young children.”
While the Santa Rosa Community Hospital (SRCH) was awarded the Best Performing LGU-Hospital Level 1 based on 2015 LGU-Scorecard (Second Place) by the Provincial Health Office and the Department of Health Region IV-A.
On October 10, 2016, the City of Santa Rosa formally launched the Point of Care (POC) Program in SRCH. During the ceremony, Mayor Dan said that it was implemented to upgrade the hospital’s services and to ensure that indigents will receive the medical service that they need, provided that it is within the capacity of the hospital.
“The Point of Care program is a health care mechanism wherein an indigent person, that needs urgent medical attention could be admitted in our Community Hospital anytime,” explained Mayor Dan. This applies to all patients whether from the City or from adjacent cities like Biñan, Cabuyao and Cavite, for example.
Under the POC enrolment program, the Santa Rosa Community Hospital could immediately enrol a non-Philhealth member classified as Class C3 or D category at the time of admission. The city government, through the SRCH, will be shouldering the premium contribution amounting to P2,400 for one year. From the day of enrolment, the POC enrolee will be able to avail of the health care benefits up to the last day of the same year.
People’s Day
When Mayor Dan assumed office, he delegated all Mondays as the Araw ng Dangal. This is an opportunity given to walk-in clients to inquire and ask on their concerns regarding the services and program being offered by the city government. The releasing of cash assistance for medical and burial, and distribution of PWD restorative aid also takes place on this day.
For Mayor Dan’s first 100 days alone, 856 beneficiaries received Financial or Medical Assistance, 248 beneficiaries for Burial Assistance, and 82 beneficiaries for Physical Restoration Aid.
Philippines’ Earth Hour Capital
On August 18, 2016, the City of Santa Rosa was named the Philippine Earth Hour National Capital by the World Wildlife Fund or WWF for its pioneering initiatives on climate mitigation and adaptation, particularly its initiatives like putting up solar street lights and construction of a composting facility.
According to City Environment and Natural Resources Officer Erlinda Creencia, Santa Rosa was chosen from among several cities in the country and in the world to compete in the Earth Hour City Challenge of WWF. “We competed along with Makati City in Metro Manila and San Carlos City in Negros Occidental,” she said.
“We won the title ‘National Earth Hour Capital’ of the Philippines while Paris bagged the ‘Global Earth Hour Capital,” the environment officer said.
The National Earth Hour Capital is the first of its kind award ever given in our country.
The City also placed fifth in WWF’s We Love Cities Campaign, a related social media contest for the 41 Earth Hour City Challenge finalists. It was won by the City of Bogor in Indonesia.
“This recognition links the many efforts and initiatives of the City in our commitment to mitigate the effects of climate change by reducing its greenhouse gas emissions and not to mention, positioning the City in the global arena in terms of successful environmental and sustainable development programs,” said Ms. Creencia.
In addition, Ms. Creencia emphasized that the City could not have done it without the participation of the people. “We cannot do it single-handedly, we received help from stakeholders, partner national and local government agencies, international funding institutions, non-government organizations, environmental advocates and individual program supporters,” she said.
Hence the awarding ceremonies for environmental partners held annually dubbed as the Santa Rosa Environment Day.
Furthermore, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office also received another award – the Silver Award for Provincial Environmental Compliance Audit 2016 from DILG IV-A on December 14, 2016. The recognition was given for the city’s “outstanding performance and highly commendable practices in Solid Waste Management in terms of adhering to the Supreme Court Mandamus to clean and rehabilitate the Manila Bay and its watershed especially on the principles of R.A. 9003 or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act of 2000.” CIO Santa Rosa
