Bim sees a vibrant, progressive, and sustainable future for
Calapan. To achieve this bold vision, his stellar track record and
extensive experience in construction will be integral to building
a better city.
Even as a private citizen, Bim has
demonstrated his ability to mobilize resources and funnel funding
to the province to construct barangay halls, senior citizens’ and
multi-purpose centers, Evacuation center, as well as roads and
bridges. Cognizant of the fiscal constraints of local governments,
Bim intends to activate his vast network and management experience
to unlock sources of non-traditional financing (Public Private
Partnerships or PPP and other National Government sources) to
bring inclusive growth and sustainable development to the city.
Bim
plans to bring his 25 years of excellence in construction and
development experience back home, where his next bold project
awaits:
Building a more progressive, inclusive and sustainable Calapan
City for all.
The Covid-19 pandemic has not spared Calapan City. As of 13
September 2021, Calapan has a total cumulative count of 2,282
positive cases, with 91 active cases, 2,111 recoveries, and 69
deaths. That is 2,282 lives directly impacted by Covid, and 69
lives painfully taken away. One life is one too many, and Calapan
desperately needs to beat Covid.
As a private citizen,
Bim has been actively leading civil society’s partnership with
national and local governments in the fight to strengthen
healthcare systems against Covid. He constructed world-class
private and public hospitals providing additional 1,250 beds and
over 20,000 sqm in out-patient department facilities. He also
built testing centers and isolation facilities in Tarlac and
Laguna, including the 25,000 sqm Mega Covid Isolation Facility
Laguna for Region 4A.
This is the kind of effective
leadership Bim intends to bring to Calapan as the pandemic rages
on. His experience in quickly mobilizing resources and executing
cost-effective Covid response projects will benefit Calapan’s
struggling healthcare system to fight this (and future) pandemics.
With Covid compounding Calapan’s existing problems, the city needs
an “all hands on deck” attitude to leadership. Where the Vice
Mayor tends to be called a “spare tire,” usually taking a step
back and facilitating passage of ordinances in the city council,
Bim knows this will no longer do in these times. The people of
Calapan will need and expect more from their vice mayor.
Bim envisions a more active, involved, and engaged
leadership role for the Vice Mayor to address the unique
challenges facing Calapan. Bim plans to productively support the
elected Mayor and the rest of the city government in addressing
the city’s fiscal constraints – with the city’s annual budget just
barely at Php 1 billion – through creative resource mobilization
in collaboration with the private sector and national government
agencies.
Bim aims to bring his robust private sector
experience to bear in augmenting the city’s funds and making the
most use of them in rebuilding the city. Bim also plans to develop
Calapan’s hurting sectors: from health and educational facilities
like hospitals, clinics, testing centers, and classrooms, to
commerce like public markets and spaces for private
establishments, and infrastructure, as with roads, bridges, flood
control and mass housing projects. All these will be undertaken
with due regard to the United Nations Sustainable Development
Goals.
This is how Bim sees genuine leadership as Vice Mayor: as an
active re-builder of Calapan City.