Well-oiled local government

Churchill Aguilar

WRITING has been difficult for me for the past two months as I juggle up with the construction and renovation of my upcoming restaurant and entertainment pub along Kauswagan hi-way while at the same time starting anew as I relocate my family back here in Cagayan de Oro for good.

Having a fresh start, I opened my options for new career opportunities and business ventures in this city. I was optimistic of course since Cagayan de Oro is a metropolis but I never thought opportunities are literally up for grabs. Within days from my arrival, the City Hospital offered me a consultancy contract for HR affairs. The already very performing health facility would like to polish their system in management, thus, my entry.

So far, the city hospital has been doing exemplary that it could very well be the model hospital for all government hospitals to emulate. In fact, as of this writing I just had my daughter transferred from Polymedic Plaza to the City Hospital for treatment. If I were to compare, the former billed me P10 thousand on our first 24-hours of confinement while the latter assured me of a no billing balance when my daughter got admitted including her medicines and laboratories until she fully recovers. How’s that for genuine health care service?

My consultancy career is starting to pick up as well. Last week, the Climate Change Commission invited me to help them capacitate 12 municipalities. A couple of private companies including a school for special children have also booked me for capacity development trainings this month. It looks like the sun is shining brighter for me again in Oro.

And since I am now here for good, I also decided to transfer my food and entertainment business as well. To my surprise, it only took me about 30 minutes to process my business permit at the city hall. I left the place with two business plates as well as a permit from the Bureau of Fire–unthinkable in other LGUs. Now I understand why Mr. Glenn Bañez was hired by the mayor. Systems that facilitate development are evidently in place in city hall and are gaining momentum.

As I looked for contractors to handle my renovations, I also found a lot companies that were willing to work with my budget. This is again another indicator that business is not just good but very good in this side of our country.

To simply put, I just experienced first-hand the good side of progress in our city. No wonder why Mayor Oca won yet another term with a large margin. I have a feeling that there are still so much good things going on with our LGU right under our nose that have not been made so obvious and probably should be made known so that more people could avail of worthwhile government programs.

My recent experiences have made me a new fan of Mayor Oca and his leadership. Cagayan de Oro is indeed a well-oiled local government unit. People just need to be taught how to access our government services. I could only hope that it will get better and better now that he has the numbers in the city council.