by Lovely A. Carillo
Young bloods and veterans respond to lady mayor’s challenge
DABAWENYOS thought nothing much would change once former vice mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio would take over the helm of the city that has been steered by her father Mayor Rodrigo R. Duterte for almost 20 years. Well, they’re slowly being proven wrong.
Not a few heads turned (some heads actually rolled), and a lot of curiosities aroused, when the young hizzoner, more popularly known as Inday Sara, attended her first Monday flag raising ceremony with the new, young kids on the bloc, referring to the new heads of departments appointed by the brand new chief executive.
While not entirely new– some have in fact been part of the local government for the past years– majority of Sara-appointed officials are young and new to the ballgame called public service.
Mayor Sara’s memorandum dated July 7 announced the appointments of the new guys to head some divisions and offices of the city government. While the names sounded familiar, what surprised her constituents and perhaps even the City Hall employees, was the way the new appointees looked and carried themselves in public.
“Yuppie,” “ Gen-Ex”— these are just some of the descriptions we got from some Dabawenyos when asked about the new appointees. Majority of them are actually young, between 30 and 40 years of age, but these people were chosen because of their educational qualifications, characters, work record, and of course, their potentials to contribute to the growth of the premier city in Mindanao.
“Wala man sa akoa kanang bata o tigulang pero ang gusto gyud nako kanang magkugi sa ilang trabaho kay bisag unsa ang idad kung magtamad-tamad dili ko ana (their age do not really matter to me because what is important is how they do their job; I do not like people who are lazy regardless of their age),” Ms Duterte said.
Here are the new “centurions” in City Hall:
A yuppie in casuals
Roberto P. Alabado III, a son of two prominent medical practitioners in the city, is the new officer-in-charge of the City Planning and Development Office. Mayor Sara personally introduced him to the CPDO, to replace retired Planning Chief Mario Luis Jacinto. Employees of the University of the Philippines where he worked as an assistant professor of the school of management call him Robby, but students call him Professor Alabado.
Alabado looks young (and he is at 39!) and can be easily mistaken as a college student or a yuppie when wearing casual clothes. But don’t let him start talking about urban planning and you will be in awe as to how extensive and far-reaching his thoughts are on this issue. Robby Alabado also wrote an urban planning column for Sun Star Davao prior to his appointment.
As Mayor Sara said, “he is the perfect fit to the job.” Alabado used to be one of the consultants of the CPDO. Alabado’s marching orders from the mayor? Prioritize relocation, traffic and the city government offices.
A disc jockey in agriculture
Known to his thousands of radio fans as “Happy LA,” the once most-listened to disc jockey and newscaster in broadcasting industry’s Davao market, Leonardo Avila III does not have a background in agriculture at all. But the seeming contradiction ends there, because he also carries tons of accomplishment in lawmaking and in championing causes aimed at protecting the environment and the city’s vast agricultural lands as member of the city council for close to two decades. The now 53-year old Avila first won a seat in the city council as an independent motorcycle-riding denim-wearing candidate in his late 20s.
“I actually only had four days of rest after my term ended and now it’s back to work,” Avila said. Not too many people know that Avila is already a proud grandfather because he doesn’t look it.
As local lawmaker, Avila is behind several landmark ordinances including the Davao City Rainwater Ordinance of 2009 which reinforces a national law requiring the establishment of a rainwater catchment system on each of the households, big buildings of companies and institutions in the city.
Leo Avila has been behind landmark legislations on child rights, women’s right, senior citizens rights and even the ordinance against aerial spraying. Many observers believed him to be one of the most sensible, most hardworking councilors the city ever had.
Avila’s popularity was not only a result of his advocacies as a city councilor. Prior to that, he was already a household byword, especially to those who listened to DXUM of the University of Mindanao Broadcasting Network in his early broadcasting days, to DXXL, Radio Mindanao Network’s FM music station and later to DXBM, Manila Broadcasting Network’s “Love Radio,” where he made a name not only as a disc jockey excellent for his choice of music but also as a respected newscaster. His stint as a disc jockey for 14 years was a big factor in his winning a seat in the City Council, but it was his performance which ensured his re-election. Avila, who described Mayor Sara Duterte before as “destined, with a green heart”, said his plans for the City Agriculture Office will be aligned to Mayor Sara’s call to make the city departments more productive.
“For now we will sit down and assess the present assets and resources of the city —both human and non-human assets,” he said. Avila said Davao is the first and perhaps the only highly urbanized city with vast agricultural land so there is a big challenge for the City Agriculture Office to harness these resources.
A lawyer who wanted to be a doctor
His friends call him “Alfon” but to his colleagues at the City Legal Office, he is known as Atty. Osmundo Villanueva. The new city legal officer actually worked in the same office for four years as acting assistant city legal officer under former city legal officer now City Councilor Melchor V. Quitain. He may have been honed by time and experience but Villanueva is a young lawyer, still with that yuppie look even when donned in his casual barong Tagalog. The 42-year old Villanueva studied at the University of Sto. Tomas, hoping to get a medical degree. Somewhere along the way, he changed course and ended up as a lawyer. “This could be destiny since most members of my family are lawyers too,” he said. His father is a judge, his brother a lawyer and a sister a law graduate. Villanueva said his office is working closely with the City Administrator’s Office since everything passes the CLO before any executive action is taken.
The Voice who loves coffee
The young Mix FM 105.9 listeners know him as “Sonny B” but his Ateneo pals, business partners and relatives call him simply Bong. To his colleagues at the City Tourism Office, he is Rizal Giovanni Aportadera. He is among the few office heads who served under Mayor Rody Duterte retained by Inday Sara. That should not come as a surprise at all, considering the impressive performance of the City Tourism Office under his leadership including last year’s Kadayawan Festival.
The 39-year old Aportadera has the best of both worlds, having proven himself in the private and public sector. However, it is his achievements as an entrepreneur that continues to amaze Dabawenyos. Aportadera, along with his business partners, put up Basti’s Brew (the second coffee shop in the city), at a time when the concept was fairly new to the Dabawenyos.
The success of his business ventures, including the radio station which he co-owns, is evidence of Aportadera’s management and marketing skills. And if he can do that to a business that started from scratch, there is a big possibility that he can do the same for the Tourism Promotion Division which he heads, as well as the Public Information and Production Division where he heads on an OIC capacity.
Investment Czar
Jason Magnaye’s name is not new especially to those who have had some dealings with Davao City’s business sector. He was the executive director of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry and later the Mindanao Business Council. After this, he was the country manager for the Philippines of the Enterprise Challenge Fund, an Australian Government initiative.
When she appeared as a guest of the Davao City Chamber of Commerce and Industry 5th general Membership Meeting right after the election, Mayor Duterte-Carpio hinted she was eyeing someone from the business sector to head one of the departments. True enough, she has appointed the 36-year old Magnaye as OIC head of the Davao enter, one of the main offices responsible for attracting investors in the city.
Magnaye intends to “tap our private sector partners to take part, or even take the lead, in the implementation of a number of our programs.” He believes in a more participative and inclusive approach both in identifying priority development programs for the city in the areas of tourism and investments and in soliciting continuous feedback on how the office can be more relevant to the sectors that it serve.
The new Investment Czar is a BA Communications Research graduate of UP Diliman, but has earned some units in Urban and Regional Planning.
Pink-loving administrator
The environment has become a little cooler and perhaps sweeter at the City Administrator’s Office, thanks to the newly-appointed City Administrator, lawyer Zuleika Lopez. If you’re looking for her office, there is no chance that you will get lost. For one, the City Administrator’s Office has been colored pink all over. According to a little birdie, it is easy to detect if a document or paper originates from lawyer Lopez’s office because even the transaction routing slips are colored pink.
Majority of the male species consider pink as a color exclusively for women. However, it also has something to do with promoting calmness and is effective in neutralizing violence and disorder. No one can blame Lopez, fondly called Lyka or Zu by friends, if she chooses a color that will promote calmness in an office that holds too many responsibilities. She is known to be firm and strong in the discharge of her duties and has proven her capability as the City Council secretary when Mayor Sara was still vice mayor.
Traditionally, the city administrator is called the “little mayor.” In addition, she is also considered the dean of all department heads. This position, which is a very sensitive and powerful one, was usually held by men. Ms Lopez, a bachelorette, is not however new to public service. She was among the first employees of the University of the Philippines in Mindanao, particularly holding the position of information officer. As a brand new lawyer, she worked with the Office of the Mindanao Ombudsman.
Lyka is the daughter of Judge Jose B. Lopez, niece of late city mayor and congressman Elias B. Lopez, and first cousin of former congressman Ruy Elias Lopez and now city councilor Dr. Rene Lopez.
Retired Traffic Buster
Ahead of the new centurions seniority-wise is retired Colonel Desiderio Cloribel, who was recently appointed by Mayor Sara as the city’s new traffic czar. As the new head of the Traffic Management Center or TMC, Cloribel has been given a blanket authority to address the city’s growing traffic problems. Not so much has been heard of him prior to his appointment but considering the calibre of Mayor Sara’s appointees, a lot of Dabawenyos are presuming that he has the necessary traffic management skills.
Cloribel is faced not only with traffic problems but also with the increasing problem posed by sidewalk vendors who have made most of the city’s sidewalks almost un-passable.
These are the new brand of professionals who will be instrumental in shaping the economic and social life of Davao City. While they have tracks records in their own fields, their effectiveness as civil servants will be judged by the people in three years time, maybe sooner.
