Online newsletter for the citizens of Sagunto, Sison, Pangasinan, Philippines
Reported by Ophelia “Babot” Pasibe Glasser
The video below is part two of the conversation at her home.
I had a really nice one-on-one conversation with the Mayor. She was warm, friendly and genuinely eager to help Sisonians. Her idealism is, I must admit, contagious. She was a definite pleasant surprise. I have a real good instinct about people and their character. I’m willing to bet that she is serious in her quest to make Sison a better place. Like her husband says, her heart is in the right place.
She wanted to get to know me better and rather than sit down for more question and answer session, she just handed me a copy of her speech that she was to deliver at another group meeting in San Diego the following day. She just casually said, “here, this will answer all your questions”. I think she did answer our questions and then some. We have been sharing parts of that speech, in quotations, on these posts. Here are some of the questions we posed to her. I think I’ll have that glass of wine now Mayor Cojuangco.
It is no secret from newspaper reports and web news reports that the last audit of the Municipal treasury showed the town as bankrupt, is this true?
YES.
Most of the programs that are currently under way are being funded by grants and/or loans from the different governmental departments (the reason why there have been so many delegates and visitors to the mayor’s office of late…). The International (Vonage)phone in the Mayor’s office and the internet connected computers, and numerous other expenses incurred to make the running of our town possible has been mostly out of her own pocket. The town cannot even pay its electricity bills and charges are being passed on to the individual barangays until there is money in the treasury. The previous administration has mismanaged the income revenues so badly that the town is currently working on a negative cash flow. WE ARE BROKE. The 2007 Balikbayan Campaign named, Ang Lola ko Ay Reyna is another way for the Mayor to beg (yes, BEG. Something she says she’s never done before) for financial support of the town. (Rules and Regs will be posted on this site soon) She said she is willing to go all the way to the President’s office, if she has to, to help bail-out the town.
Sagunto and most of Sison have been home to Indigenous Tribes (IT). What are your plans to support and nurture the tribal heritage and culture?
She said representatives from Tuba tribe and the Benguet tribe have already come into her office to ask for help in a current dispute that they have over territory. She has appointed someone to mediate in that dispute. She has also asked Mr. Cario Carganella of Labayug as an IT representative. She is also in the process of creating a corps of Forest Rangers that will be mostly IT members and will be headed by an IT member. Their positions will require them to patrol the surrounding mountains and forests to ensure that there are no illegal cutting of trees for charcoal or timber. She wants to ensure that our forests are verdant and to stop all illegal cutting of trees.
What about the water wells in the barangays? There are all these big new houses but the tap remains dry. What are your plans?
She said that the problem with past water wells is the technique and technology used is inadequate. The wells were always too shallow and dried up fast. What the barangays need are the really deep-wells. It takes a special machine to dig that deep for fresh water. Since the town is broke we can’t afford it but she is learning her lessons from her husband’s company and their experience with water-wells to help us in the future (I hope we can borrow his machine, nyahahaha).
Here is a little bit more of the mayor’s speech:
My vision for Sison includes improving health care, education and making Sison a town that can subsist on its own. We are purely agricultural so I will concentrate on that. I consider that our strength as anything grows in Sison. Most of the vegetables you find in Baguio are grown in Sison. I am currently trying to get the farmers together to form associations as I believe there is strength in numbers. If they unite, I can eliminate the middlemen thus, we sell directly to buyers and giving our farmers a bigger profit for their produce.
The planting has begun. I have a program wherein I provide the seeds and technical help while the farmers get together with their land. One hectare per Barangay of red lady papaya is allotted and inter-cropping of vegetables. Currently, we have done work in 3 barangays and will go on until we have covered all 28 barangays. When that is done, we start again in the first Barangay. I have chosen the red lady papaya to be our banner crop because it is drought resistant, grown organically and very much sought after in the first class supermarkets of Metro Manila.
There are many things that I want to do for Sison but will contend with doing what I can one day at a time. Unfortunately, being a third world country, I am financially constrained.
Nevertheless, my enthusiasm, my faith and my positive attitude will see me through. The wonderful thing is that the Sisonians share in my enthusiasm and have been giving me their full support.
(*Per the Mayor, the town’s finances are drained—bankrupted by previous administration. She has since audited the books, improved accounting by bringing in computers to track revenue, etc. She has also received funding from different government agencies in the form of grants. She said she is not too proud to beg for money from Malacanang and she intends to do that in the near future so the town can be bailed out of its financial mess.)
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wow wow wow praying for the success of the greening program started with the agricultural project on Papaya production using organic fertilizers that would help our consumers healthy and make our environment free from inorganic chemicals that are hazardous to health and again I still believe that green program being implemented will do a lot and makes our place a big difference not only today but most important to the coming generation.
Kunak to met nga mayat isuna nga Mayora – sapay koma ta ikkan nan dagiti Taga Sagunto ti bukel dagita nga nasam-it nga papaya ta maramanan tayto no December 2008. Jude
wen mng. judy right ngem agprepare kanto ti paggatang mo ti papaya actually kunak idi para pakan baboy lang papaya ngem tatta ayus balitok ti ngina na metten narigat pay nga birukenen.
apay ngay nga papaya laeng gamin, iramanyon diay cheesa tapno libre. Problema ti DENR tatta ket awan kano mayat nga dumawat kadaguidiay palakay da nga cheesa. No saan yo nga kayat diay cheesa adu kano mabolo, no kayat yo pay diay nabudo nga variety. Adda met ipampamula da itatta nga sapote, sinno ti mayat? Libre dagitoy
who needs cheesa? sagot sa El Nino at La Nina. No need to fertilize or water.
‘Think everyone’s having a truce, now that we’ve seen and heard the mayor.
The Honorable Congressman is here beside me. Bot, he saw mayora doing her speeches. Said also that it’s nice to have this kind of genius tech
thanx Loej for doing your part sharing this website to municipal employees and so with the congressman himself hahahha! kasta a avail and make the most out of it.
yap mng. Jude mamati kami kenkan hahaha ngem you should be reminded nga endangered species ti banyas tattan isu nga leave them alone in the forest hahahha!
Thanks Loejan for staying connected with us. Yep, I think that Mayora has changed some people’s opinions and outlook of the future of Sison after her US tour. It was very productive, PR wise. Good move on her part. Please tell Congressman Cojuangco that we also appreciate his help in making our town better. If we all work together as a team with one goal in mind, I think we can reach the status of FIRST CLASS municipality without sacrificing the natural habitat that we all love in Sison.
Please stay tuned for more breaking news….