FOR public service and governance, two others were recognized at last Friday’s “Tatak UP Awards”---Eufracio Maratas Jr. and Joel Garganera. Both are public officials we wish we had many of.
Maratas’s service area is Pilar, Camotes islands where he was vice-mayor and now councilor. In his 14 years, Pilar was awarded “Most Outstanding Sangguniang Bayan” from the DILG and “Most Child-Friendly Municipality” from the Cebu Provincial Government and Region 7 from 2007 to 2012.
Pilar also received the “Most Gender-Responsive Municipality” award from 2009 to 2012 from Cebu Province.
An alumnus of UP Cebu High and UP Los Baños, Maratas easily resonated with biodiversity conservation initiatives. The Pilar Municipal Marine Park was the 2009 Most Outstanding Marine Protected Area of the Philippines, and landed in the Top Ten in 2011.
These contests, sponsored by Rare and National Geographic, drew over 100 entries from 48 countries.
Maratas credits UP “for instilling in me the importance of loving my country and home town, hard work, and keeping the fire of idealism burning despite the difficult dynamics of local politics.”
Garganera finished his high school and BA Political Science at UP Cebu College. The same brand of loyalty has seen him devote 26 years of public service to Tinago, Cebu City where he was its youngest barangay captain at 21.
His advocacies and passions are the protection and safety of citizens, of women and children, and the environment. He was at the forefront of rescue and relocation operations for the victims of the Guinsaugon landslide in Southern Leyte in 2006 that claimed 1,126 lives.
Super typhoon Yolanda led him to convert the Tinago gym into an evacuation center, the first to open and the last to close, this year end. He strongly promotes the e-trikes, electricity-run motorcycles that do not emit harmful gases, and the restoration of river banks and creeks.
Tinago also became Most Child-Friendly Barangay in 2014. Before then, he was Most Child-Friendly Barangay Captain in 2002. He advocates breast cancer awareness programs, convinced that breast cancer afflicts not just women but their families as well.
Lone “Tatak UP” awardee for technology and entrepreneurship is my fellow columnist here at Sun.Star Cebu: Wilson Ng.
Enterpreneur to the core, he’s president and CEO of Ng Khai Development Corp. since 1993, developing his employee base from three to over 300.
This BS Business Management graduate founded and manages eight other corporations engaged in software development, process outsourcing, tech support, call center operations, interior design, seafood processing and marine products export, gifts and lifestyle products.
Clients are also in Japan, China, Europe and the U.S. Unexpectedly, Ng has reaped such prestigious awards as the Ernst and Young’s “Entrepreneur for the Year for SME’s” in 2005, and CCCI’s “Most Outstanding Entrepreneur of the Year in ICT” in 2004.
When not wired to his desktop, Ng is wired to his other passion --- music. He plays various instruments and has founded music groups such as the Asian Troubadours in 2008, and the Young Troubadours.
Ever learning, Ng is presently studying towards a doctoral degree in HongKong.
(lelani.echaves@gmail.com)