LEX Reports

Ever since I was an elected and/or appointed youth and student leader, I always believed in giving year end reports to the people I serve which during that time were the students or the youth who put me in office. It is my way of telling my “boss” that he, she or they chose well or that they didn’t make a mistake on giving me their trust and support. This practice of mine was strengthened during my work experiences. Good performance was based on merit. Project and periodic accomplishment reports were needed to be submitted for evaluation.

My yearning to excel is a result of how my parents brought me up. My mom was a disciplinarian. She wanted us to always succeed and go beyond expectations. She never wanted us to settle for second best. My dad was the man with the prizes. He gave us rewards for doing a job well done. Thus, I was trained to reach for excellence and I didn’t want to upset or disappoint my parents. In my schooling years, I considered my parents to be my boss since they were the ones who worked hard to put me in good schools. I also wanted them to be proud of me.

Let us fast forward to my career as a public servant. Until this day, I still am very grateful to the people of Iloilo City who gave me a resounding mandate of 73,000 votes to become the youngest elected City wide official at age 27 and a chance to be of service to them. Despite the political issues thrown against me, Iloilo City has warmly welcomed me. I do not owe my victory to political personalities. I owe my victory to the people of Iloilo City. They are my boss. This is the reason why I continuously consult them, talk to them, and mingle with them because without them, I wouldn’t have made it. This is also the reason why I try to go beyond my work as legislator as I organize special projects for the city residents especially for the women, senior citizens and the youth sectors. I am also thankful to my colleagues in the City Council for making me Chairman of the following three Committees: Communication and Public Information; Domestic and International Affairs; and Committee on Labor and Employment. I am also glad to have been asked to become a member of the Committees on Tourism and of the Committee on Youth and Sports Development. Today, since I only started January of this year writing for this column, I will give a report on what we have done not only for the year 2008 but also from June 2007 (the start of my elected term) until Dec 2007.

YEAR 2007:

1. Legislative Measures:

a. 2 Ordinances on first reading: Driver, Passenger and Children Safety Riding Motorcycle Ordinance (Proponent) and the Anti-Internet Pornography Ordinance (Co-Sponsor)

b. 10 Resolutions (first and final reading) on the following topics: Crime Prevention; Preparation of the Comprehensive Drainage Plan of Iloilo City; Conveying sincerest sympathy to the bereaved family of a late barangay captain; entering sister city relationships with Kaoshiung, Taiwan and Mandaue, Cebu and Service Recognition

c. Privilege Speech: “Safety and Security in our own Homes”