Priorities of Candaba Under Mayor Jerry Pelayo

• Peace and Order
• Clean Environment
• Agriculture
• Infrastructure
• Health
• Eco-tourism

The first 100 days of Mayor Jerry Pelayo

Reforms Initiated

Implemented cost-cutting measures that saved P8 Million for the municipality. Unnecessary casuals were removed. Over-spending on supplies was stopped. Unjustified travelling was disallowed. Attending unimportant seminars especially those held outside the province was discouraged.

Income losses of the municipal government were drastically cut. Illegal water and electric connections that accounted for the bulk of some P3 Million losses in operating the public market were removed. Market fees and dues were standardized. Collections for the market alone more than tripled.

Illegal structures within the market perimeter were removed without exemption. All vendors were moved inside the market to make enough room for traffic around the market. The market was cleaned, renovated and provided with newly installed comfort rooms for vendors and buyers.

The Office of the Mayor was made more accessible by disallowing any cordon sanitaire and keeping the door literally open to anyone who wants to see the mayor.

Regular consultations and dialogues with the different sectors were held at the barangay level to keep abreast with the local situation and unify the people in solving various problems of the communities.

Strict discipline among the town�s policemen was imposed. Carrying of firearms when not in uniform, drinking or playing cards while on duty and sleeping on the job were firmly prohibited.

On Oct.1-2, 2004 the First Candaba Seminar-Workshop on Peace and Order was held right within Candaba at the Mayor�s compound. Intended to refresh and enhance the knowledge of policemen and their cooperating barangay personnel on law enforcement and strengthen their bonding, the activity was attended by all policemen, barangay captains and leaders of tanods of the municipality. Guest of honor was Sen. Francis �Kiko� Pangilinan who also met leaders of farmers on the same day.

A program to encourage and enforce the registration of tricycles and their drivers with the municipal government and the LTO for security and control purposes was initiated in cooperation with the leaders of the different barangay TODAs setting a deadline for total compliance.

Advocacy

Drive against waste-dumping in the Candaba swamp

Mayor Jerry Pelayo led the campaign against waste-dumping by big-time piggeries that have been poluting the Candaba swamp causing huge damage to agriculture and aquatic life. This attracted media and public attention prompting the DENR to act with dispatch. This campaign is linked with the long-term plan to make the Candaba swamp not only a leading source of agricultural and aquatic products but as destination for eco-tourism as well considering the migratory flocks that converge in the area yearly. At the same time, dumping garbage into rivers, creeks and canals was banned after these waterways were cleared of plastics that have been clogging them.

Rehabilitation of the Pampanga River

Mayor Pelayo also initiated the move among the municipalities along the Pampanga River to join forces in rehabilitating the said river and make it not only life-sustaining but a venue for tourism and alternative means of transportation as well. The Candaba swamp is seen as one of the three major natural landmarks of Pampanga that have to be preserved. The others are the Arayat Mountain and the Pampanga River. This particular concern has led to the proposal to create a Pampanga Development Commission that will make the Pampanga River a rallying point to tackle the problems of garbage, flooding and traffic in the whole province.

Transparency in governance

Mayor Pelayo initiated transparency in his administration. He has been submitting reports of incomes and expenditures to pastoral councils, civic organizations and other sectors. Noting that this has given taxpayers more confidence and trust in the local government to the point that they have become more than willing to help by paying their right dues on time, he is now advocating that this practice be adopted by local executives and other government officials to help the country stamp out graft and corruption and increase tax collection.

Projects

• Lighting of the main road from the Sta. Ana-Candaba boundary all the way to the town plaza.
• Solving the perennial flooding of Pansol, the main access from Sta. Ana to Candaba, by building a diversion passage for floodwater into the Pampanga River and clearing of the main drainage canal.
• Reconstruction of the municipal police headquarters and a police outpost guarding the entrance to the Poblacion.
• Repair of the elementary school in Pulong Plazan that was long neglected.
• Renovation and repainting of the public market.
• Reconstruction of the town plaza and renovation of its surroundings.(See the new plaza.)
• Repair of municipal trucks, ambulance and backhoe and made them serviceable again.
• Giving each policeman a monthly sack of rice and scholarship for a high school child.

Inspired, the local police have already caught three of the main drug pushers in the municipality and have discouraged the others from coming back.

Recognitions

Mayor Pelayo was cited and honoured with a pass in review by the Philippine National Police Region 3 for his outstanding leadership during a recent calamity. Through his leadership the people of Candaba were mobilized to save the eroding Arnedo Dike at Barangay Mandasig by packing more than 30,000 sandbags in two-days time just barely a few hours before the typhoon and the big flood came. The event was widely covered by national media that placed Candaba back in the map for many people.

His persistence in calling for the rehabilitation of the Arnedo Dike has led to the allocation of some P15 Million for that purpose by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

Top government officials led by Senators Bong Revilla, Jamby Madrigal and Manny Villar visited Candaba on various occasions to see for themselves the situation in the area and talk with local residents.

Mayor Pelayo and Candaba have been featured frequently by various media networks on various topics ranging from environmental concerns to issues involving governance. (Read what columnists wrote about him: Ram Mercado, Art San Pedro.)

On October 19 of this year barely two months after the big flood, Candaba hosted some 73 international candidates of the Miss Earth 2004 Pageant that was shown via international cable distributors, a testimony to the Candabe�os resiliency and determination to make a difference at this point in time. A Miss Earth Park will be built where the international beauties planted trees.