Basic services will remain my focus – Bernabe

“Basic services will remain as my focus and concentration during my last term of office as local chief executive.”, Parañaque City Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Jr. stressed in his inaugural speech.  Bernabe publicly took his oath office before the Honorable Jansen Rodriguez, Parañaque RTC Branch 259 Presiding Judge on Monday, July 5, 2010 at the San Antonio Gym, following a Thanksgiving mass and the customary flag-raising ceremony.
 
    With the infrastructure engine and other systems firmly in place and running as programmed, the mayor set his sights on four immediate concerns at the start of his third term of office: Flooding; depressed areas; garbage; and traffic.
 
     Although vigorous measures have already been undertaken to mitigate these issues, there are still much to be done and the mayor will stop at nothing to minimize, if not eliminate these problems.
 
      The city has purchased the “Spider” backhoe to clear creeks of debris. The recent acquisition, a  dredging machine is now being used in cleaning the Parañaque River which is the catch basin of all waterways in the city. Rip rapping of major creeks is continuously being done to prevent soil erosion.
 
     Parañaque City will soon be squatter-free. The city government’s program for its urban poor is working well. Its partnership with the Gawad Kalinga (GK), well-meaning corporations and NGOs has given birth to numerous socialized housing projects that benefitted thousands of marginal families in the city. Parañaque now has 30 GK villages, the second best record and feat in the NCR.
 
     Although there are existing Materials Recovery Facilities (MRF) in various barangays of the city, the local government will build a central MRF which will accommodate a greater volume of garbage for further segregation.
 
      Since the installation of Closed-circuit television (CCTV) in strategic locations in the city, traffic enforcers and police officers are able to watch the streets, keeping them orderly and safe. Parañaque will soon have its own asphalt batching plant for its road maintenance project. This will make travels inland and to various destinations through our main thoroughfares comfortable and convenient.
 
     All these programs and projects are meant as service to the citizens of the city and to inculcate love of city and cultivate genuine “Pride in Parañaque!”.