Pamintuan is finalist in 2012 World Mayor award

ANGELES CITY -- Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan was recently voted and included in the list of 25 mayors from across the globe who will compete for the 2012 World Mayor award.

This was gleaned in the shortlist posted Monday by the World Mayor Foundation on its official website.

“This is really an unexpected result. As what I have said, being long listed to receive this award is already a heart-warming acknowledgment. But being one of the 25 finalists to vie to be the next World Mayor is extremely overwhelming,” Pamintuan said.

The World Mayor 2012 shortlisted five mayors from North America, four mayors from Latin America, seven mayors from Europe, two mayors from Australasia and Africa, and five from Asia.

Mayors from Israel, Indonesia, South Korea, and Turkey, including Pamintuan from the Philippines comprised the Top 5 finalists from Asia.

“I guess the reason why we were able to get this far is that people see what we have given in honor of the people of Angeles,” Pamintuan added.

Qualifications

Upon assumption into office, Pamintuan prioritized the intensification of programs concerning community and public health, quality and affordable education, and environmental preservation.

Pamintuan was able to establish the first Renal Care Unit (RCU) in the city offering affordable medication for people suffering from renal diseases.

With 19 dialysis machines and a total of 2,427 treatments served since its formal operation in less than a year, it is now believed to be the largest dialysis center in the Philippines.

Pamintuan was also able to institutionalize the City College of Angeles (CCA), offering market-driven courses catering to indigent student Angeleños who wish to continue their education.

The city mayor has also encouraged various sectors of the city to take part in the sustenance of the environmental resources of Angeles through initiative programs such as Task Force: One Million Trees and Sagip Sapang Balen.

Pamintuan has also inked several pacts with different organizations, like Mother Earth Foundation Inc., with concern to environmental management of solid wastes that encourages the city’s 33 barangays to build their respective Material Recovery Facility (MRF) to lessen waste and gain income for their villages through re-use of recyclable materials.

“These efforts and best practices gained praises and commendations from the local and national, public and private entities and are now being eyed by other Local Government Units (LGU) as worthy of emulation,” the mayor said.

“With the Seal of Good Housekeeping from the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), we were able to prove that we offer quality, admirable and transparent governance to the people. I believe this has brought back the trust of our fellow businessmen and stakeholders back to the city government,” Pamintuan stressed.

Despite the decrease in the city’s internal revenue allotment (IRA) from the National Government, Pamintuan was still able to increase Angeles City’s local revenue for the succeeding years. From P847 Million in 2009, it even went up to P1 Billion for the year 2011.

Testimonies

On the World Mayor website, several testimonies from voters highlight why Pamintuan deserves to receive the coveted prize.

“Mayor Ed Pamintuan serves as a mayor of Angeles City following an administration full of corruption, graft and grandstanding. Upon taking his place as mayor, Mayor Ed Pamintuan took the city and put it on the right path. Gone were the day of graft and corruption, the city is once again headed for prosperity,” says one of the testimonials on the World Mayor’s site.

“Mayor Ed Pamintuan has all the qualities of a true leader worth emulating. He is very kind and truly cares to his peolpe. He is the only Mayor in the city who made all the improvements for the city for the benefit of his people to have a good life, not for his own interest. Mayor Ed is a role model…,” said a certain Rossen G from the Philippines.

“We owe this back to our citizens here in Angeles. I believe, with the services and programs that we are implementing, through unity and cooperation, the long-time dream of having a safe and abundant place to live in is becoming a reality- one thing I ever wished for the Angeleños,” Pamintuan concluded.

World Mayor Project

The World Mayor Prize is awarded every two years to a mayor who has made outstanding contributions to his/her community and has developed a vision for urban living and working that is relevant to towns and cities across the world.

The project also aims to raise the profile of mayors worldwide and honor those who have served their communities well and contributed to the well-being of cities nationally and internationally. (Reynaldo G. Navales)