Dream of Aboitiz brothers leads to activation of ‘puroks,’ awards
Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board rewards community groups for best practices
The “purok” system as a kind of “bayanihan” in villages has been recognized as a strong strategy in community development under the local government units (LGUs).
This is the reason the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB) conferred the “Mega Cebu Purok Awards” on 11 of the 2,120 puroks (community clusters) in Metro Cebu in a ceremony at the Grand Convention Center of Cebu Monday, Dec. 3.
MCDCB Project Management Head Evelyn Nacario-Castro identified the awardees as Purok Tambis of Consolacion, Purok Maalagaron of Cordova, Purok Kalubian of Liloan, Purok Magtalisay of Compostela, Purok V of Danao City, Purok Saging-Sanging of Mandaue City, Purok Vischoa of Talisay City, Purok 7 of Minglanilla, Purok Aidtech 1 of Naga City, Purok Sayaw of San Fernando and Purok Pongtod of Carcar City.
Mayors Teresa Pepito Alegado of Consolacion, Kristine Vanessa Chiong of Naga City, Therese Sitoy Cho of Cordova and Lakambini Reluya received the awards together with their Purok leaders.
“We want Cebu to be a livable place by 2050 so every purok has an important role to play to improve their community. This is a celebration of what the puroks have done. The LGUs have used the tools called purok readiness measure and purok engagement and performance indicators,” Castro said.
MCDCB Executive Committee chairman Dondi Joseph said the Purok System was activated because of the dream of the late Aboitiz brothers Bobby Aboitiz and Jon Ramon Aboitiz (who died last week) for a better Cebu.
“We all believed that Cebu can be a better place to live in, a better place to work and a better place to raise our children,” said Joseph, a consul of The Netherlands.
MCDCB Communications and Stakeholder Relationship manager Caroline Ballesteros said they have made headway in fostering grassroots participation in community development by assisting LGUs of Metro Cebu to establish a purok system.
As of the moment, 11 of 12 LGUs have either an executive order or an ordinance establishing the purok system.
She said there are currently more than 2,120 functional Puroks organized or formalized. These puroks composed of 50 or more member-households, have their own set of officers and bylaws, while also holding regular meetings.
Ballesteros added that as the number of Puroks increased over the last two years since the push for the purok system was initiated by Mega Cebu Program, the LGUs, with support from the constituency building personnel of Mega Cebu Program of Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (Rafi), have also initiated Purok strengthening activities.
This is intended to increase the capacities of purok officers and members on a number of topics relevant to the management and advancement of puroks as it fulfills its de facto role as platform of social development initiatives.