BAYANIHAN NI INDAY PARA SA BARANGAYBarely two months into its implementation, the Bayanihan ni Inday Para sa Barangay Food for Work Program proved to have a great impact with the help of the 4,354 community volunteers. These community helpers efficiently assisted the city in installing the 540 meters of dirt net and collected 207.31 tons of garbage along the coastline of Barangay 23-C. In addition, the drainage clean-up operations at La Verna Subdivision and Sasa Creek up to Barangay Pampanga have cleared 219 tons of garbage. With the aid of the City Engineer’s Office drainage equipment, the clean-up activities were successful in its efforts to clear the area despite the difficulty that was brought by the siltation in the Sasa Creek. Davao City is among the first to adopt such endeavor in the entire country wherein the families that benefited most from it are the indigent people as pre-identified by the City Social Services and Development Office.

THE INDAY PARA SA BARANGAY (IPSB) CARAVANThe Inday Para Sa Barangay (IPSB) Service Caravan is a combination of the different departments’ services in the City Government of Davao, visiting the city’s barangays to provide basic assistance to the people. With Mayor Sara herself to lead the team, the program aims to bring the services of the city hall to far-flung areas. Mayor Sara understood the people’s burden on transportation expenses in going to the city and so she tapped and brought the government resources closer to the people. Many are expected to enjoy the benefits of the IPSB Program. In February to June 2011 alone, the City Agriculturist Office was able to distribute 24,205 packs of assorted vegetable seeds to about 3,753 recipients. The City Health Office also offered its medical and dental services to the different barangays. Aside from these, innovations in the caravan include entertainment for children, education for farmers about organic farming and orientation of people on basic traffic laws and regulations. The IPSB Program made the people’s basic needs closer to them and catered their needs as the constituents of the City of Davao.

VIDEO SURVEILLANCES VERY EFFECTIVE IN TRACKING TRAFFIC VIOLATORSThe Public Safety Command Center has captured around 6,000 traffic violations since February of this year. With the help of 16 CCTVs installed in the city’s strategic locations, traffic violations were documented through snapshots and video clips that were endorsed to the Land Transportation Office for appropriate action. With practically many eyes to track road violators every second, the city advances its capability in imposing road discipline. The Public Safety Command Center of Davao is a first of its kind all over the country. It is also a landmark project of former Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte in order to create better coordination with the law enforcement agencies, the martial units and the Central 911. It addresses issues relative to security, crime, terrorism, traffic, health and emergency responses. PSCC helps protect the city by ensuring the safety of the Dabawenyos and implementing security programs with superior excellence.

A STEP TAKEN TO IMPROVE TOURISM SERVICES IN THE CITYAn intensive Tour Guiding Seminar was conducted by the City Tourism Operations Office in collaboration with the Department of Tourism, Guide Davao, Davao Travel Agencies Association and the Davao Association of Tour Operators. The seminar was held on June 6 to July 1, 2011. The training program which was first organized in the city on 2005 intended to enhance the level of service given by the city’s tourism frontliners and the quality of products provided to our local and foreign visitors. It was attended by 38 aspiring local tour guides who wanted to standardize their level of competence and skills in handling the city’s guests. It also aimed to develop the work ethics of the tour guides who are the representatives in promoting our city and its wonders to tourists. Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte gave her full support for the said seminar stating that there is a need to upgrade the competence of the professionals in the tourism industry in order to provide our local and foreign visitors excellent tourism products and services.

NO SEGREGATION, NO COLLECTIONEven prior to the full implementation of the “No Segregation, No Collection” Policy on July 1, 2011, the volume of garbage disposed at the city’s sanitary landfill at Barangay New Carmen in Tugbok Distrct gradually decreased from 485 tons to 431 tons within the timeframe of December 2010 to April 2011. During this period, the City Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) had already intensified its campaign on proper waste segregation within households, institutions and industries. A decrease of about 54 tons of waste thrown in the landfill within 4 months is a positive indicator of effective implementation of the law. If this trend continues, the city’s landfill in Barangay New Carmen can last up to its expected use of 8 to 10 years. Based on the Implementing Rules and Regulations of the Davao City Ecological Solid Waste Management Ordinance of 2009, there will be corresponding sanctions and penalties for violators and for those who are stubborn in following the law. People in the city who do not segregate their trash will be fined not more that P3,000 or a maximum imprisonment of 6 months.

B . A . R . O . G .Barangay Empowerment. Academe. Resource Generation. Peace and Order. Governance.

CITY’S AGRO-FORESTRY PROGRAM: SEEDLINGS FOR THE FUTURESubsequent to the launching of Sustainable Agro-Forestry Program for Rural Upland Communities (SARUC), the City Agriculturist’s Office has reported a total of 67,858 agro-foresty crop seedlings produced in eight new nurseries established in Toril, Calinan and Marilog Districts. The city is also working for the rehabilitation and improvement of the existing Malagos Central Nursery in Baguio District. It has succeeded in setting up a budwood garden with 1,100 hills of rubber clones and scion groves. Along with that are 764 hills of cacao varieties. Around 1,349 farmers have received city-sponsored trainings which would help them increase their produce with the new knowledge that they gained. With 63% of the total land identified as an agricultural area in the city, upland farmers and indigenous peoples are mobilized to help in rehabilitating, conserving and protecting forest covers that are already threatened by denudation and other illegal activities.

ONE-STOP SHOP FOR BUSINESS APPLICATIONS INITIATEDDoing business in Davao City is very easy. This has been proven through one-stop shops made available by the Business Bureau inside several malls in the city. This made it possible for would be business owners to process their applications easier and faster, thus saving time and effort. It also decongested the bulk of people that crowd inside the main office doing transactions for their businesses. Records reveal a total of 31,780 business applications in the first quarter of this year, with 29,054 already approved and 3,208

which are still under process. This one-stop shop has manifested a business-friendly atmosphere in the city making Davao one notch higher in being known as a business hub within the entire Southern Philippines.

CAMPAIGNS AGAINST DENGUE INTENSIFIED

For four years in a row, from 2007 up to 2010, there was a marked increase of death tolls due to the dengue mosquito which has always been the cause of alarm by the health authorities. In 2007, 21 deaths have been reported; in 2008, 33; 2009, 64; and in 2010, 88. With the partnership of the Department of Health (DOH) and the City Health Office (CHO), massive campaigns were initialized in order to prevent the spread of the dengue mosquito that continue to cause harm, especially to young children. The two government agencies held awareness fora in schools, distributed chemically-soaked mosquito nets to the upland

barangays, gave out medicated curtains for the city’s elementary schools, carried out fogging in areas highly suspected to be breeding grounds of mosquitoes and gave out Ovi/Larvicidal Traps that help control and prevent the population of mosquitoes. With the intensified campaigns of the government to prevent the spread of the killer mosquitoes, dengue related deaths are reduced to just 12. In speeding up the dispatch of financial assistance due to this disease, Mayor Sara Duterte put up an express lane in her office and initiated a regular community clean-up drive which is known in the barangays as the 4 o’clock clean-up habit.

EDUCATION FOR ALL, THE YOUTH STAND TALLEducation is a key for an individual to be free from ignorance and to develop oneself. That is why it is one of the banner programs of Mayor Sara Duterte under her platform BAROG. In her bid to improve the quality of lives of the Dabawenyos through education, the Mayor signed Executive Order No. 27, which created the Davao City Educational Benefits System Unit. It lets the scholars enjoy the benefits of a city-sponsored scholarship. It shall serve as the central unit which shall handle the different educational programs of the city. Among these is the STEP, the Rody Sagop Educational Assistance for IPs, technical and vocational skills training program and other educational assistance projects.

ROAD EDUCATION EQUALS TO DECREASED TRAFFIC VIOLATIONSThe Traffic Management Center (TMC) has declared that since the start of the city-sponsored Public Utility Vehicle Driver’s Education Program, the number of traffic violators had dramatically dropped. On April 2011, there were around 3,049 reported cases on traffic law violation as compared to 2,727 in May of the same year. TMC noted that the downward trend rate of traffic violators in the city could be attributed to the city’s intensified campaign on instilling road discipline to all drivers of PUVs. To date, at least 11,330 drivers in the city have attended the said seminar. It just goes to show that education opens doors to understanding and instilling discipline to our people.

Our City Government of Davao is service-oriented. Our City Mayor in the frontline would ensure the success of BAROG with its noble and doable objectives for the city and its people. The welfare of the Dabawenyos is and will always be her number one priority.

Mayor Sara Duterte stands ground to work under a pro-active, responsive, efficient, and pro-people agenda for Davao City. Her Barangay Empowerment, Academe, Resource Generation, Peace and Order and Governance (BAROG for brevity) encapsulate her main thrusts and key strategies of a three-year city governance. This issue highlights various events which are geared towards giving a significant impact to the lives of the Dabawenyos.

IMPROVED NUMBER OF SOLVED CRIMES THROUGH A NEW INCENTIVE PROGRAMWith the adoption of the Anti-Crime Incentive Program, more crimes against persons and property have been solved just for the first quarter of 2011. This was proven by the report of City Public Safety Officer Magno G. Adalin, Jr. who stated that 108 cases on murder, homicide, physical injuries and rape have been solved. On the other hand, 105 crimes against property which include robbery, theft and carnapping have also been given resolution through the new program implemented in the city. An aggregate amount of P334,800 was given as an incentive renumeration to police officers for solved crimes. The city has already given an award to Sasa and Marilog Police Stations this year based on their last year’s performance from October to December 2010. The cases cleared or solved by the police units are authenticated by the report from the City Prosecutor’s Office.

INCREASED TOURIST ARRIVALS THROUGH THE 1ST DAVAO SUMMERFESTThe recently concluded 1st Davao Summerfest 2011 paved the way for a more active and booming tourism industry in the city. That is due to the increased number of tourist arrivals in the city. The rooms that have been sold out from April 25 to May 1, 2011 reached a total number of 6,805. 4,887 were from 12 hotels and 1,918 were from inns, condotels and suites all over the metropolis. The Annual Convention of Masons and the 17th Annual Convention of the National Federation of Motorcycle Clubs made the event more successful with the number of participants that attended. It was a challenge for the city’s tourism industry but the Dabawenyos proved that they can do it.