Photos by Bernard Testa
As one of the most progressive and forward-looking cities in the Calabarzon region, Biñan has been known not only for its industrial estates and export processing zones but also for its vibrant suburban communities that are often teeming with numerous activities.
But even as the rest of the region has struggled with dealing with the COVID-19 andemic, Biñan City has showed no signs of slowing down. If anything, guided by local officials who complement each other in putting the interests of the city and its people above everything else, Biñan has weathered the still ongoing storm with flying colors.
This February is a particularly busy month for the native Biñanenses as the city looks forward to a triple celebration this coming February 2 to 4.
With strict health protocols especially with regards to social distancing expected to be observed, Biñan will commemorate its important milestones in an aptly themed celebration dubbed as Paghilom at Pagbangon starting with the city’s 11th anniversary on February 2, its 76th anniversary of its World War II liberation from the Japanese Imperial Army on February 3 and its 274th Foundation Day or Araw ng Biñan on February 4.
“As in past celebrations, the highlight of the event should be the People’s Parade. Because of the health pandemic, however, the celebration will be more austere and less grandiose as we will have to tone down the celebration with lesser participants,” noted Bryan Jayson ‘BJ’ Borja, the point person for Biñan City Culture, History, Arts and Tourism Office (BCHATO) who is in charge of the festivities.
The theme of this year’s celebration, Paghilom at Pagbangon is a nod to the healing and rebuilding of Biñan City and its denizens who are undergoing the course of the COVID-19 health threats.
Biñan’s hardworking triumvirate
Since her very first day in office back in 2016, Representative Marlyn “Len” B. Alonte-Naguiat has been working steadily with Mayor Atty. Walfredo “Arman” R. Dimaguila Jr. and Vice Mayor Angelo “Gel” B. Alonte. As a result of their harmonious working relationship, Biñan’s top local officials have come to be known as The Big Three.
Rep. Naguiat was a mayor for three terms before becoming congresswoman. She said that under her watch, the local government has already strengthened its partnership with locators from the Laguna Technopark Association, Inc., (LTAI) and the Laguna International Industrial Park (LIIP) by giving them start-up incentives. Her administration also worked hand-in-hand with the Business Club in creating a business-friendly environment.
“By streamlining all business-related transactions and ensuring a transparent and business-friendly environment, we were able to encourage more and more companies, local and international, to invest in Biñan. This in turn had provided thousands of job and livelihood opportunities for our people,” she said.
As the city’s top lawmaker, Naguiat continues to champion education and remains a staunch advocate of equal opportunities for all making Alagang LEN, the flagship medical-educational-financial-livelihood-skills training program of her office, a household name in the city. This program facilitated a host of projects aimed at helping various sectors in the district most especially during the height of the pandemic.
A sister of Vice Mayor Gel Alonte, Naguiat is also a longtime ally and supporter of Mayor Dimaguila. “Mayor Arman and I go a long way back. We started together as councilors, and since then, we’ve always worked together on programs that we both felt would benefit Biñanenses. He was one of my strongest support systems as vice mayor during my term as the mayor. The work we do in local government can sometimes feel like a heavy load, but when you work with people who are as passionate as you are, and whose goals are the same as yours, then the work becomes bearable and you work even harder and more inspired,” the lady solon narrated.
Culture-based governance
Borrowing a famous quote from U.S. President Woodrow Wilson, Mayor Dimaguila, on the other hand, describes his relationship with Rep. Naguiat and Vice Mayor Alonte this way: “‘We cannot be separated in interest or divided in purpose. We stand together until the end.’ As the city’s Big Three, we complement each other. We see to it that all our plans and programs are aligned.”
“My vision has always been to prioritize peace and order, healthcare, education, heritage preservation and to involve people in governance decisions. Safety is something I take seriously. Our Command, Control and Communication Center (C3) operates 24/7. From barangay activities to crime watch, Biñan has eyes on the streets,” he said.
The city’s 45-year old chief executive officer has set his eyes on the basic services that give the people a sense of security—health programs with state-of-the-art-medical equipment, education and scholarships, uninterrupted water and electricity supply. “In pursuit of progress and heritage preservation, we are embodying the city’s tagline, ‘Buhay ang Nakaraan, Sumasalubong sa Magandang Bukas’ while in involving people in governance decisions, we have the tagline ‘Sa Lungsod ng Biñan, Mamamayan ay Maaasahan,’” he added.
Dimaguila’s culture-based governance believes that tracing the heritage—the historical and cultural roots—is important in planning for the future of his city. Learning from history itself, the city’s top heritage establishment, Alberto Mansion, was on its way to Bataan, in 2010 for restoration/replication in a resort there. Then Vice Mayor Dimaguila led heritage advocates including then 22-year-old student Borja, and concerned residents successfully mounted a sustained tri-media campaign to keep the Alberto Mansion in Biñan. Today, much of the Alberto Mansion remains in Biñan and it was declared a heritage site on the strength of RA 10066, also known as the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009.
As mayor, Dimaguila directed his staff towards heritage conservation and awareness thereby creating the BCHATO with Borja at the helm. Since then, “we had envisioned Biñan as a city that is aware of its cultural, historical, and artistic heritage towards sustainable tourism,” said Borja.
BCHATO is an autonomous office employing some 80 personnel including researchers, arts and cultural workers, among others. It’s immediate accomplishment so far was the launch last year of the 200-page Pamana ng Buhay: The Living Heritage of Biñan, also during the Araw ng Biñan celebration.
Bigger things are coming according to Borja with the near completion of Pamana Book 2 and the completion of the city’s 10-year tourism masterplan by March 2021. Meanwhile, the unveiling of the town plaza development plan to revitalize the city’s heritage district is happening on February 4.
People come first
As part of the Dimaguila administration, Vice Mayor Alonte considers the Big Three as a family working together for the welfare of many more families in the city. “Tulungan ang Big Three ever since. Naging tradisyon na yan sa Biñan and we intend to keep, and work on it that way for the betterment of our people. Mayor Dimaguila is my idol and kuya in local governance. We think the same: Tao ng Biñan ang una sa isip and we want to bring all the best for the Biñanenses,” he said
As the city continues its progressive evolution, Vice Mayor Alonte admits learning the best governance practices of the past administrations, keeping some and upgrading them for the new generation.
As the city’s vice mayor, Alonte is persistent in pursuing and creating ordinances to empower its citizenry by giving them the best services. No. 1 on his list is to transform Ospital ng Biñan into a modern and advanced hospital in Laguna complete with the best doctors and consultants around. While waiting for this to materialize, he’s working on the transition of the city’s health clinics into Super Health Clinic status so people would be given proper care even without going to the hospital. “That way, the taxpayers get what they paid for,” he said.
He also intends to expand the city’s Iskolar ng Bayan project with programs and further training for the scholars. This way, ang galing ng galing Biñan could be highlighted wherever they may go, Vice Mayor Alonte said.
On the side, as someone who’s into wellness and sports, Vice Mayor Alonte heads sports events in the city, especially basketball clinics, to bring camaraderie among Biñanenses. But since this has to take a backseat with the ongoing pandemic, he is actively helping children and young people afflicted with cancer via his own Kalinga Anghel Foundation. When a young member of the family got afflicted by the Big C, the vice mayor has taken this advocacy to help others on his own or with the help of the closely-knit Alonte family.
Under the watch of its Big Three officials, Biñan has become one of the most admired cities not only in the Calabarzon but in all of the Philippines. Even as the world continues to live with the ongoing pandemic, Biñanenses can take comfort in the fact that their city’s top leaders have their interests and welfare in mind and in heart.
Progressive, forward-looking Biñan
The city’s economic success is largely due to its leaders working together regardless of political affiliations making it either the envy or model of governance by nearby towns and municipalities. Even before the pandemic struck, Biñan was already ahead of the game as far as development projects are concerned, most of which were planned as early as 2018.
Dimaguila’s forward-looking governance pushed him to go with his long-term development blue-print for Biñan City amid the pandemic. Early last year, the Biñan City government broke the ground for six infrastructure projects worth P280 million that it aimed to complete over the next 18 months. These projects included the improvement of the Ospital ng Biñan’s facilities which resulted in a full extension of its 200-bed capacity in a four-story building with modern Intensive Care Unit (ICU). The Big Three also launched the soon-to-rise new Polytechnic University of the Philippines-Biñan (PUP-Biñan) campus building which is intended to house most of the city’s scholars. The city government inaugurated and blessed the Balay Silangan Drug Reformation Center on the side of the organic farm in Brgy. Dela Paz. The P10 million facility, sourced from the incentive the Biñan City government received from the Department of Interior and Local Government can accommodate at least 120 drug dependents for rehabilitation by the city.
Meanwhile, a total of P100 million was allocated by the local government for Biñan City Jail and Custodial Facility, its new detention facility with a one-hectare lot in Brgy. Dela Paz that could hold 300 inmates. A new Fire Station was also born last year near the Lambingan Bridge in Brgy. San Antonio. This new location allows for faster response to fire calls, the mayor said. Fire trucks will have an easier time navigating since they don’t have to contend with the narrow streets of Brgy. Poblacion where the old Fire Station is located.
Finally, Biñan’s first-ever Public Private Partnership Program amounting to P170 million materialized before the pandemic. The Elevated Parking, Commercial Center, and Hotel project is a 1,552-square-meter commercial complex located behind the historic Alberto Mansion. It’s a throwback to Spanish colonial days concept project in Brgy. Poblacion which is part of the heritage conservation vision of the city.
The city’s Big Three are not the only dedicated public servants that the city is blessed with. Councilor Libunero “Jedi” Alatiit, for one, is thankful and proud of his pet project, BinD360, the Biñan-wide reliable COVID-19 contact tracing app which the city got exclusively and for free. The app that makes data-tracing in the city a breeze, similar to highly progressive countries like Dubai and Singapore, could be repurposed according to Alatiit. For now, it is also being used to survey Biñanenses who wish to have themselves inoculated with COVID-19 vaccines while users are assured to be protected by city ordinance and data privacy the councilor said.
Among the busiest during the height of the pandemic is the City Social Welfare and Development Office (CSWDO) headed by Adora Casbadillo whose office was in charge of the validation of the masterlist for the SAP payout which included going out to the remotest areas and barangays of the province for this purpose. She was thankful that various city offices assisted her department during those days and until now. “Great things happened during the pandemic. It was good that our mayor came from the impoverished family himself, so alam nya kung paano maging mahirap. There were requests from my office na hindi na kailangan ang formal request in writing. The next good thing is, everybody works fast. We used to receive requests for financial help and work on them within the week. But with the pandemic, we were able to process right away. We collected requests and did payout on the same day!” she narrated.
Playing a lead role in Biñan’s counter pandemic measures is the Budget department headed by Octavio Almenanza Jr. “The city’s social services got the biggest chunk for the expenses during the pandemic. “In reality, we didn’t have money for that urgent situation. So what we did is utilize our savings from 2019 and use it up for the first wave of the pandemic,” said Almenanza Jr. Moving on, the city has to generate funds for other coming expenses and for the future. Right now, he said, the city has existing road widening at the technopark for easier transport of products to nearby provinces and Metro Manila. “Palalakasin din natin ang SMEs with venues devoted for their products, hopefully tuluy-tuloy na ang development ng One Asia Business Center and Greenfields City,” he said. He added that the city is working on the fiber optic internet connectivity for the whole of Biñan to further business development in the provincial city. The budget department has also set its projection of P2.5-B tax collection for 2021. “We cannot project higher than that, at hindi rin sure na mako-collect because of the ongoing pandemic. Based on the collection last year, of the 2.9-B income tax earned, only 2.4-B were collected due to the pandemic,” he said.
For his part, City Community Affairs Office head Ronaldo Roscain, inspirational stories and sacrificial acts were born during the pandemic. Aside from joining Mayor Dimaguila in border inspection at the height of community quarantine and spearheading free Point-to-Point Transport Service for health and emergency frontline workers, Roscain personally donated milk, diapers and biscuits to impoverished and hardly-affected families in Barangays Dela Paz, Casile, Malaban, Ganado, San Jose and Platero, among others. It is all started with an Fb message addressed to him by a mother of three young children who asked for milk for her baby. Since then, the personal advocacy grew so that Roscain was able to save money intended for the birthday celebrations of family members, including himself, for the purpose.
For Alfred Benedict Suarez, head of the city’s Youth Affairs and Sports Office (YASDO), all these services are actually geared towards the youth: “Para saan ba ang ginagawa natin sa pamamahalan? Hindi ba’t ang lahat ng ito ay para sa sector ng kabataan para sa magandang kinabukasan nila?” The only youth agency in the whole of Laguna with a department level status, YASDO played crucial role during the pandemic and beyond. Suarez said that even before the national government pushed for online learning, the city has already implemented its own with over 800 teachers of Biñan as volunteers. Suarez said, the teachers pooled their knowledge and creativity together for the normal education.
But the biggest challenge for Suarez’s office this 2021 would be the counting and profiling of the youth sector per barangay in the whole of Biñan for us to really determine the problems and the programs needed for the youth sector which comprised the 70% population of the city. A tie-up project of the University of the Philippines and the Provincial Youth Development Office of Laguna, YASDO will be busy for the whole of 2021 as it determines the exact number and profile of the youth sector and subsectors of the city.