MANDAUE City received the distinction of being one of the top three local government units (LGUs) in the Digital Governance (eGov) Awards under Customer Empowerment with its use of the Guardian Emergency Response System.
The City got the recognition Tuesday, Nov. 26, 2019, in the category, along with the cities of Makati and Parañaque.
Mayor Jonas C. Cortes received the award with City Administrator Jamaal James Calipayan and chief of staff John Eddu Ibañez. Cloyd B. Dedicatoria, chief executive officer of SugboTek Inc., the City’s partner that developed the Guardian system, was also present.
The award encouraged the City’s leadership to expedite its plan to roll out Guardian in the barangay level through clusters next year, starting with Subangdaku, then soon Banilad, Basak and Cubacub areas, Calipayan said in a SugboTek press release.
A program of the Department of Information and Communications Technology, Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National ICT Confederation of the Philippines, eGov recognizes the best practices among LGUs in the field of information and communications technology.
The City adopted the Guardian system as “it saw the need to better organize the deployment of responders and assets, especially during major incidents like conflagration in task force alpha level, flash floods and disasters,” the press release said.
“Dako natong garbo nga sa atong pagpaningkamot nagbunga kini og pasidungog para sa atong pinalanggang dakbayan,” Cortes said in a Facebook post. (It is with great pride that our efforts bore this award for our beloved city.)
The City engaged SugboTek in August last year to roll out Guardian, an application that allows the public to use their mobile phones to either seek assistance during emergencies or report incidents with a single tap on the phone.
Meanwhile, Ibañez said the city wants to become the first “Smart City” in Cebu. The “smart city” concept includes the improvement of the closed circuit television (CCTV) system covering intersections where the volume of vehicles is high.
The mindset of people that they can violate road rules when enforcers are not around, would have to change. Cameras will do the watching, Ibañez said. (PR, KFD)