The Pasig City local government held on Wednesday, March 23, the groundbreaking ceremony for its newest barangay hall as it promoted the importance of transparency and fairness in its government transactions and projects.
Pasig City Mayor Vico Sotto, together with Congressman Roman Romulo and other city government officials, led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Caniogan Barangay Hall which aims to further improve the barangay's services to its residents.
During the ceremony, Sotto said that the local government opted to not make large-scale infrastructure projects its priority for three years to give way for the improvement of Pasig's procurement system and the city's Covid-19 response.
"Nung June 2019 pa lang, nag-usap na kami ni Cong. Roman kung paano ang gagawin namin. Napagkasunduan namin na siya na muna ang bahala sa mga malalaking infra na kakailanganin kaagad- sisiguraduhin niyang may nakalaan na pondo thru DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) at nagawa niya ito (school/multipurpose buildings, Kenneth, Tanghalang Rizal, at itong brgy hall) (Cong. Roman and I have been in talks as to what steps we may take since June 2019. We then agreed that he will take care of the large infrastructure projects that needs priority by ensuring that there will be enough funds thru DPWH wherein he succeeded)," Sotto said.
"Malalim ang mga problemang natuklasan natin sa procurement ng LGU (local government unit) at hindi ako pumayag na tatapalan lang ang problema; dapat ayusin at i-institutionalize natin ang tama at transparent na sistema. Authentic change takes time (We found out that there are deep-rooted problems in the procurement of the LGU and I didn't allow it to just have band-aid solutions; we have to fix and institutionalize the right and transparent system. Authentic change takes time)," he added.
The mayor said that the changes they made are now bearing fruit. The LGU is now observing a large decline in its average project costs by around 20-30 percent.
"Kaya nagsisimula na ang Phase 2 ng Pagbabago, kung saan ang magiging focus na natin ay kung papaano magagamit ang karagdagang pondo para sa kapakanan ng buong lungsod (increase LGU's fund utilization) (We are now starting the Phase 2 of our change, wherein the main focus will be on how are we going to use the funds for the future of our city)," Sotto said.
"Tuloy-tuloy lang tayo. Sapagkat ang mga pagbabagong pinaglalaban natin, pakikinabangan nating mga Pasigueño hanggang sa mga susunod na administrasyon (We will continue because the changes that we are fighting for will benefit Pasigueños until the next administration)," he added.