15 December 2009

Quezon City receives Galing Pook award for park development

Quezon City is again one of the recipients of the prestigious Galing Pook Award, a yearly search for outstanding local governance programs.

This year’s award is the fourth for Quezon City and President Arroyo is expected to present it to city officials before the year ends.

For this year, the city government bagged the award for its public-private partnership in developing city parks program, an entry from the Parks Development and Administration Department headed by Engr. Zaldy de la Rosa.

Under the program, 111 or almost 50 percent of the city’s 243 existing parks were developed or rehabilitated as “SB” Parks during the administration of Mayor Feliciano Belmonte Jr. With this development, every cluster has one park and the residents of the city’s 142 barangays help maintain the parks.

The La Mesa Eco Park in Fairview is the most popular park that is being rehabilitated by the city government under its parks development program. To sustain the La Mesa Watershed Project, the city government signed a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with Bantay Kalikasan-ABS-CBN Foundation and the Manila Water Sewerage System for the rehabilitation of the 33-hectare public park located right outside the natural boundaries of the watershed and 40 meters below the reservoir.

Other recipients of the Galing Pook award are Makati City for its solid waste diversion and reduction program; Marikina City for promoting healthy living through its clean food and water laboratory; Parañaque City for its adolescent-friendly health and welfare services; and Taguig City for its innovative financing schemes for the poor.

By Perseus Echeminada

The Philippine Star

November 29, 2009