Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia and other local officials are in Bangkok, Thailand to represent the city at the final conference of the Democratic Local Governance in Southeast-Asia (DELGOSEA) being held August 6-9.
With the mayor are Councilors Em Ang and Caesar Distrito and members of the technical working group, Gilda Lluisma, Sally Abelarde, Loben Ceballos and Gloria Arguelles.

Leonardia said this conference is the last activity of the DELGOSEA before the official funding period of the European Union ends.

Bacolod was selected two years ago as a pilot area to replicate local governance best practice on People Private Public Partnership of Cambodia.

Over 100 participants, representing the project partners, local government associations (LGAs), pilot cities, best practice cities, academe, national governments and project teams from all five countries, will discuss the impact of good local governance projects, the successes of the pilot cities, and the outcome of the project evaluation to sustainability issues, as well as new initiatives for reaching the goal of good local governance in all ASEAN countries.

Leonardia opted to adapt and utilize the best practice model from the Toul Sangke Sangkat Council in Cambodia, in improving people participation and collaboration with government in public services management.

The conference aims to develop a strategy for a permanent dialog on democratic local governance on the regional level.

It is an occasion to celebrate the successes of the pilot cities and the enduring friendships and networks that have developed over the last two and a half years.
The PPPP model from Toul Sangke Sangkat is focused on engaging all members of local communities, government constituents and public institutions in the planning, funding, and building of infrastructure such as the roadwork and inland waterways.

It also emphasizes its key success on management transparency and outreach activities to all parts of the community, regardless of their status, political affiliations, and culture, he said.

CAMBODIA’S APPROACH

Bacolod City is replicating Cambodia’s PPPP approach on the construction of a youth home for the children in conflict with the law (CICL) as the existing one is no longer in adequate condition.

Leonardia said “Bacolod is determined to involve the people and government elements so we can better address local needs and utilize local and external resources throughout all steps of public services’ development and improvement.”
He said they are honored to join this partnership with DELGOSEA and to learn from their colleagues in Toul Sangke Sangkat Council in Cambodia.

The mayor had created a Technical Working Group to deliberate on major issues/concerns currently faced by the City. Based on its assessment and problems identification, the city experiences some concerns on the areas of environment, women, children and family.
YOUTH HOME
The construction of a youth home was listed as priority. It is one of the major programs of the City's Department of Social Services and Development.

With the increase in CICL being handled by the DSSD, and given the limitations on space of the present center and limited budget, the team in Bacolod City believes that with the involvement of private-public sector participation, they will be able to build a new and more spacious center for the youth.
Leonardia convened the Bacolod consortium for People-Public-Private-Partnership on July 31, to discuss further steps for the Bacolod Youth Home.

The Bacolod community development consortium is composed of a management board with Leonardia as honorary chair, Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson as honorary vice chairman, Milagros Ong, the overall chairperson from the private sector, with Councilor Em Ang is the vice-chairman.
Chairpersons for the committees on
Finance and Resource Management, Project Design, Monitoring and Evaluation, Procurement and Inventory, Community and Mobilization, were also named.

GROUNDBREAKING

A one-hectare property in the Arao Relocation site has been designated as the future site of the Youth Home that will be constructed under the PPPP scheme.
The groundbreaking was held at the site on August 2, 2012 and attended by various stakeholders.*CGS

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