Wednesday, September 06, 2006
Laus hails San Fernando officials for embracing solidarity group’s ideals
By Albert B. Lacanlale
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO — A top business leader in the province has lauded the city government here for adopting a system of governance being fostered by the Institute for Solidarity in Asia (ISA).
Levy P. Laus, president of the Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PamCham), said the ISA is a good movement that sets standards in public governance.
ISA, with its Public Governance System (PGS), will eventually galvanize the strength of key cities that will spur nationhood towards unity, prosperity and global stature, Laus said.
The City of San Fernando, identified by the ISA as one of the country’s Dream Cities, recently adopted the PGS, which encourages public-private partnership in formulating programs for effective governance.
ISA is an independent, non-partisan, not-for-profit institution that seeks to improve public governance through citizen participation.
PGS, on the other hand, is a management tool that enables managements and stakeholders to move the organization in one direction.
Moreover, two of the city’s top officials —- Mayor Oscar S. Rodriguez and city administrator Sonia P. Soto —- were invited to be among the select local officials as ISA Fellow and ISA Associate, respectively.
“I am happy to note the City of San Fernando is one of the early local government units to embrace the movement and its underlying principles and processes,” Laus said in a statement.
Laus, in support of the ideals of good governance, joined the multisectoral governance council (MSGC), which is formed with private individuals and leaders of various non-government organizations.
MSGC is a product of adopting the PGS, which has, among its effective tools, the scorecard and roadmap to outline a particular goal and to define the courses of action in achieving such objectives.
“This system of governance will redound to a cohesive community geared towards achieving the Dream City in the shortest term. I congratulate our local executives for this endeavor and their progressive mindset,” Laus said.
Recently, ISA convened a conference program called “Mahal Ko ang Pilipinas”, an open coalition of cities, sectors and individuals committed to the observance of the core beliefs and values of the Philippines 2030 Governance Roadmap.
The event highlighted activities participated in by ISA Fellows, headed by Dr. Jesus P. Estanislao, the Founding Fellow and Chairman of ISA; selected City Mayors who have shown leadership by getting their city initiated into the PGS process, and people who have also been chosen for their demonstrated commitment to significant improvements in public governance.
The activity highlights the installation of Soto as the first ISA Associate. ISA created the Associate level after finding out that city mayors need technical and professional support from people who are fully aligned with and totally committed to the ISA process of installing the PGS.
Aside from her ability and capability of being able to combine a high level of professional and technical support for the City Mayor and a high level of commitment and support for the PGS progress, Soto is also chosen to be the first ISA Associate to encourage other technical officers in the Dream Cities to aim for such a recognition and designation for their own respective cities.
Special international guests such as Gregori Lebedev, CIPE chairman; Dr. John D. Sullivan, CIPE executive director; Dr. Boonchai Hongcharu, associate dean, Academic Affairs at the Graduate School of Business Administration, National Institute of Development Administration (NIDA) in Bangkok, Thailand; and Marcelino Pandin, program director of Parliament Leader Program in Jakarta, also came to add inspiration to the ISA celebration.
(September 6, 2006 issue)
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