Pasig Mayor Vico Sotto urged the newly-elected barangay officials of the city to uphold good governance throughout their terms.
The mayor welcomed and congratulated the barangay officials in a ceremony at the Pasig City Sports Center on Friday, Nov. 17.
“Naniniwala po ako na kung magkakasama-sama tayo, at ako very optimistic pa rin ako bagamat maraming magsasabi na ‘wala na talaga, you can't teach all dogs new tricks’ pero tingin ko, hindi man 100% dito sa Pasig, pinapakita [pa rin] natin na posible ang makabagong istilo ng pag-gobyerno at pulitika (I believe that if we work together, and I am still very optimistic, although many will say that 'you can't teach all dogs new tricks', but I think, even if it is not 100% here in Pasig, we are still showing that the new modern style of governance and politics is possible),” the mayor said.
“Magtulungan po tayo. Ipakita natin na posible, ipakita natin na maliwanag ang kinabukasan ng ating lungsod at ng ating bayan (Let's work together. Let's show that it's possible, let's show that the future of our city and our town is bright),” he added.
Sotto also reminded and urged the barangay officials to help and guide the elected Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) officials to the right path, emphasizing their potential as future leaders of Pasig.
He hopes that barangay officials who are planning to “poison the minds of their SK to engage in acts of corruption” will be gone to break the cycle of corruption in the city.
“Kung gusto ninyong gumawa ng kalokohan, h'wag n’yo na po idamay ang mga SK natin. Tulungan natin yung SK, let us give them the chance to shine. They are our future leaders (If you want to do something ignorant, don't involve our SKs, let's help them instead),” Sotto stressed.
Meanwhile, the mayor also encouraged the officials to be transparent and serve the needs of all their constituents without discrimination.
During the oath-taking, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG)-Pasic City Director Visitacion C. Martinez, Pasig City Vice Mayor Dodot Jaworski, and Rep. Roman T. Romulo also congratulated the barangay officials.
They assured them that the city government would help and support them on the projects that they wanted to make to build a bright and better future for Pasig.