Sunday, January 14, 2007 LTS, long time mayor of Davao City, turns 84
LUIS T. SANTOS, third longest serving mayor of Davao City, celebrates his 84th birthday at the Holy Infant Jesus of Prague Shrine at Matina Hills Sunday.
This was learned from Karlo "Kaloy" S. Bello, grandson of Santos, also known by the nickname "Luigi" and "LTS."
Bello said Santos, who was elected congressman of the Third of Davao City in 1987 and also served as secretary of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), was lately plucked from retirement by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo to be one of her political consultants. Prior to this, LTS served as a director of one government corporation, which has something to do with energy.
As mayor of Davao City, Santos was responsible in establishing the now monolithic Davao City Water District, appointing its first general manager, engineer Iluminado Quinto, andmembers of the board of directors headed by Dr. Alex Panuncialman.
It was also during his time that the city government solved the squatting problem at Salmonan-Piapi-Boulevard area with the help of the World Bank through the Slum Improvement and Resettlement (SIR) Program, which likewise gave birth to the SIR area along Sandawa Street in Matina.
The SIR project included the construction of the DCOTT (Davao City Overland Transport Terminal) and the development of the Sandawa commercial site. At the time Santos was city mayor, from 1972 to 1981, the City Government only had an annual budget of P11 million. When he vowed out of office in 1981, the budget of the city had bloated to P300 million after the office of the city mayor and the city council studied other local governments' ways and means of improving their annual income.
This year's budget is P2.58 billion, which is expected to increase within the year due to the usual approval of supplemental budgets.
Thus, the longest serving mayor of the City so far is Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte who is on his 15th year as city's chief executive, not to include two years as OIC vice mayor and three years as congressman. The second is Carmelo L. Porras with 12 years (three terms of four years each) and third is Santos with nine years.
Bello, who is a son of former Justice secretary Silvestre Bello III and Ms Teresa "Beng" Santos, third child of LTS, said his grandfather would like to spend his birthday quietly with friends, political allies and former adversaries at the popular shrine and tourist spot which was established by his grandmother, the late Catalina "Tale" Santos.
The best time to go to the shrine Sunday to meet the birthday celebrator is 12 noon, said Kaloy Bello. (AMA)
