“I had the best teacher who taught me very basic principles: never take advantage, steal and do wrong to people.”
Thus said opposition Councilor and Angeles City mayoralty aspirant Carmelo “Pogi” Lazatin Jr. during the Angeles City mayoral candidates’ forum on November 21 at Oasis Hotel, sponsored by Hotel and Restaurants Association in Pampanga Incorporated.
Asked what sets him apart from other mayoralty aspirants in this city, Lazatin had a simple answer, “I learned from the best.”
Lazatin was referring to his father, former Pampanga First District representative and three-term Angeles City Mayor Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin, who currently serves as chairman of Barangay Balibago.
Lazatin added that he has witnessed how his father served the city for 25 years and plans to take after his father’s example by serving the city “with integrity and with a heart” once he is elected.
According to Lazatin, this brand of public service has been passed down to his father, and now to him, from his grandfather, Rafael Lazatin.
Rafael Lazatin, often fondly referred to as “Apung Feleng”, also served as mayor of Angeles City.
“From my grandfather, to my father, a very important lesson has been passed down – leadership with compassion and love for this city and its people,” Lazatin said.
In the same forum, Lazatin also announced that once elected, his first order of business will be to clean out the “rotten eggs” in the city government, especially those who use their position to extort from businesses in the city.
“Our administration would make a firm stand,” Lazatin stressed, “meaning, we will clean out the corrupt employees in the city government, regardless of their affiliation.”
Lazatin also said processing of applications for business permits at the city will be modernized under his administration.
“The present Business-One-Stop-Shop was first implemented during the administration of my father,” Lazatin said, “Under our administration, we plan to improve this further by properly implementing the city’s online business application system, starting with proper information dissemination.”
At present, the Angeles City Government has an online business application system in place called E-BOSS or Electronic Business One-Stop Shop, however, the service has yet to be widely used by businesses in the city.
According to the Business Permit and Licensing Division, in 2017, only 16 businesses applied for their permits through the E-BOSS system.