• CHRYSEE G. SAMILLANO
An ordinance renaming South Capitol Road, Bacolod City to “Mayor Alfredo L. Montelibano Jr. Avenue”, bounded on the east by Lacson Street up to San Juan Street on the west, was passed by the Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod on first reading Wednesday.
Authored by Councilor Homer Bais, the proposed ordinance said it is distinctively fitting to rename South Capitol Road after the late Alfredo L. Motelibano Jr., who was one of the longest serving governors of the Province of Negros Occidental from January 2, 1968 to April 12, 1986. He also served as mayor of Bacolod City from 1988 to 1995.
It was during his tenure as mayor of Bacolod City when his advocacy for “Paglaum” (hope) became a household name, a guiding principle in governance, leadership, discipline, fostering optimism, and unity among Bacolodnons, thus, the Paglaum Party, Paglaum Sports Complex, Paglaum Blue Boys, a youth football (soccer) team. He championed the grassroots sports development that made the Paglaum team a very formidable outfit that rivaled the best teams in the nation, it said.
It was during the tenure of the late Jr. Montelibano and through his support that the Bacolod Rescue Unit (BACRU), a volunteer group of private individuals and employees of the city, was organized and trained in rescue and emergency medical response during calamities and disasters, which later on was requested to train the employees of different local governments and police in the region. The defunct volunteer group had transitioned into the present Community Emergency Response Team (CERT), the ordinance said.
His mayoralty complemented his long tenure a governor of Negros Occidental, making him one of the most influential local leaders in the province’s modern history, it I said.
The renaming of South Capitol Road to “Mayor Alfredo L. Montelibano Jr. Avenue”, bounded by Lacson Street in the east to San Juan Street in the west, is a fitting tribute and honor to a man who had tirelessly labored to uplift the abject social condition and dignity of many, the ordinance added.*
