Klarex: Admin to double efforts in aiding local businesses

STRENGTHENING City Halll’s efforts to help local businesses recover from the Covid-19 pandemic while expanding its delivery of essential services to the public were among the highlights of Mayor Rolando Uy’s city address yesterday.

“I’m calling on City Hall’s departments that are in charge of economic programs (to conduct an inventory of their existing projects) so we can evaluate (whether these have benefited our people) and see if the results (reflect actual data) presented by our national government agencies on the city’s economy (during the pandemic),” Mayor Uy said in Visayan during his city address and report at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center.

While citing data from the Philippine Statistics Authority showing that 56 percent of Cagayan de Oro’s residents aged 18 to 55 years were employed during the pandemic, Mayor Uy said it remains to be seen whether it accurately reflects the actual reality on the ground.

The mayor emphasized in particular helping small businesses, a lot of whom closed shop at the height of the pandemic.

“We should continue to help those who are hit hardest by the pandemic…we should step up efforts to increase business registration and to help new and old businesses in completing their requirements. More than 80 percent of the businesses that were registered were micro-enterprises…from retailers to store owners to even parlor owners (they all need our help),” Uy said.

Sustaining the city’s economic recovery was among several issues tackled at length by Mayor Uy in his first State of the City Address (SOCA) and annual report that he delivered in a special session held by the 20th City Council at the Aquilino Pimentel Jr. International Convention Center.

The event drew barangay officials, government agency directors, Capitol officials led by Misamis Oriental Gov. Peter Unabia, and local top business leaders.

Mayor Uy also cited his administration’s efforts to improve access to education and public health to the city’s poor families through the City College project and expansion of the city scholarship program as well as building super health care centers in the city’s 80 barangays.

Uy also highlighted City Hall’s work in decongesting the city’s public markets and traffic.

While saying that much work remains ahead for the city government, Mayor Uy also appealed to City Hall’s bureaucracy and the 20th City Council to help his administration meet and overcome these challenges.

“I’m thankful for your support and I’m ready to listen to (our stakeholders) discuss their proposals in order to integrate them into our (RISE) development agenda,” Uy said in Visayan. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)