Parañaque wins LivCom awards anew

The City Government of Parañaque under the administration of Mayor Florencio Bernabe, Jr. continues to gain recognition for its service programs. The city received 2 International Awards for Livable Communities, the Silver Award in the Socialized Housing Category and the Bronze Award in the Whole City Category during the LivCom Awards rites at Al Ain City in the United Arab Emirates on November 26, 2012.

Parañaque City and Batangas City were the only Philippine cities among the 60 different finalist cities from countries all over the world invited to present in the 2012 LivCom Awards competition.

The LivCom Awards  was established on 1997 and focuses on international best practices regarding management of the local environment with the objective of improving the quality of life of individual citizens through the creation of livable communities.

The judging criteria are: a) Enhancement of the Natural and Built Landscapes; b) Arts, Culture and Heritage; c) Environmental Best Practice; d) Community Participation and Empowerment; e) Healthy Lifestyle; and f) Strategic Planning.

For its housing project, the Parañaque City Government has established 36 socialized housing communities in cooperation with Gawad Kalinga, R.I. Dist. 3830 Rotary Homes Foundation, Couples for Christ, Answering the Cries of the Poor (ANCOP)-Tekton Foundation, Maynilad Water Services, National Housing Authority, Social Housing Finance Corp./National Home Mortgage Finance Corp. and other NGO, corporate and government partners.

“We will continue to build more socialized housing communities to empower the poor in Parañaque. Soon, we will be able to minimize poverty in the city and make Parañaque squatter-free!”, P’que Mayor Jun Bernabe said.

Apart from “building communities, lives and future”, the other goals incorporated in the city administration’s socialized housing program are the promotion of public health and safety; and protection of the environment.

In 2011, Parañaque City won its first LivCom Bursary Award with £10,000 financial support for its “Making Food Go Further: Mitigating Hunger and Ensuring Future Resilience and Stronger Households” (Project FRESH) which is a joint project of Save the Children, Kraft Foods Philippines, Dept. of Education and the City Government of Parañaque. Said project advances urban gardening as a means of mitigating hunger, promoting nutrition especially in children and improving the livelihood prospects of poor families.