Incumbent Bacolod Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran called Mayor Evelio Leonardia the “best mayor” of Bacolod City” but assured constituents that the Sangguniang Panlungsod will remain an independent body under his leadership and not a stamping pad of the executive.
During the second edition of the Debate Serye 2022 of station DYHB Radio Mindanao Network for vice mayoralty candidates at the Osbron Hall of Ikthus Bacolod on Wednesday, Familiaran also heralded the accomplishments of the SP from 2016 up to the present.
Under his watch, Familiaran said the SP passed 6,976 resolutions and approved 276 ordinances, many of which are considered as landmark local laws.
The SP was also recognized by the Department of Interior and Local Government as “Champion in Local Legislation” enroute to Bacolod winning the “Best Performing Local Government Unit– City Category in Western Visayas” in 2019.
The vice mayor, who champions the “Todo Serbisyo” branding, authored 41 ordinances 170 resolutions to his name when he was still councilor on top of 14 other pending ordinances in in their first and second readings after completing his second term as No. 1 SP member in 2016.
This included City Ordinance 593, or the Ordinance Establishing a Comprehensive and Sustainable Development and Shelter Programs and Services for Poverty Alleviation of Informal Settlers in Bacolod.
Much like the first edition of the debate that featured Leonardia and mayoralty candidate Albee Benitez, Familiaran also tackled pressing issues involving his position, including the vice mayor’s and the SP’s actions on institutionalizing social pension funds for senior citizens; immediate assistance during calamities; review of City Ordinance No. 338 or the Comprehensive Traffic Management and Regulation Ordinance and the push to raise the salaries and benefits of traffic enforcers and police officers, among others.
Familiaran is also batting to “professionalize” traffic enforcement to make their functions more effective.
In his closing statement, Familiaran emphasized it will be his performance that will bolster his bid for re-election as vice mayor of Bacolod for the third and final time.*
