Your Excellency President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, First Lady Luisa Ejercito Estrada, members of the Magsaysay family, distinguished guests, trustees, fellow awardees, ladies and gentlemen.

The recognition accorded me tonight is an honor that our people in Naga most deserve. It is a fitting testimonial on our faith and confidence in a democratic society where people and government actively engage with each other in forging a collective decision. Our people have proven, that given the opportunity, we can rise above our parochial interests in the pursuit of common good. Given a choice, we will opt for good government despite the attendant obligations it requires.

Last year, Asiaweek magazine acclaimed Naga City as one of the most improved cities in Asia. With a political environment that has effectively enshrined people empowerment, it has substantially achieved its development and institution-building goals. That recognition affirmed our belief that our people, given the chance, are in fact the most effective partners in our quest to improve their lot.

Our decade-long experience has taught us valuable lessons in governance, accountability and constituency involvement. We had many obstacles and pains when we started to experiment with a governance system that veered away from the traditional. During that period, we were being threatened by decadent ways that inflicted the social, political and moral fabrics of the community: rampant illegal gambling, indecent entertainment, crime, occasional abuse by the powers-that-be, poor tax collection, rising unemployment and sheer indifference. Important political benefactors, whose interests run contrary to our reform agenda, disowned us. Businessmen who were my friends but were affected by the city’s honest-to-goodness tax collection campaign questioned our intentions and loyalties.

We, however, stood our ground, strengthened our resolve and entrusted our fate to the people. We brought our office beyond the walls of City Hall and promised to make Naga a better place to live in. Communication lines were opened. The people felt comfortable telling us what they want, what they need and how we could best attain them. The Naguenos soon realized that they have found an ally in us.

To our critics’ dismay, the people rallied behind us. They rejected dirty politics and shun manipulations by those who have power and money. Instead they demanded for more efficient services and organized themselves into proactive sectoral groups not only as a means of extending influence but more importantly as a tool for developing themselves into responsive citizens who were sincerely involved in public affairs.

Thus, we have institutionalized the urban poor federation whose members were given access to land, employment, housing, livelihood and basic services. Women’s groups were organized and trained to indulge in more productive endeavors such as livelihood development and environmental protection. Even homegrown cause-oriented groups during the tumultuous period of coups and armed confrontations asserted their role as mobilizers of popular democracy by declaring Naga City as a zone of peace, freedom and neutrality.

Soon a People’s Council was forthwith established to ensure the continuing participation of NGOs and people’s organizations in city deliberations.

Amidst all these are institutions of import in our community, which helped shaped the engagement between the local government and its constituency. We have an activist church that encourages us to seek and pursue the more difficult but righteous path. We have NGO and civil society groups, which now realize that their local government is a partner and not an adversary. We have academic institutions, which now seek to use its capability to address development issues affecting our locality. We have a business community, which after initial grumblings, came to realize that it is in their long-term interest that we take care of the poor and the less fortunate. We have a vigilant and free media, which despite its many excesses, nevertheless contributes to the transparent management of city affairs. In our dealings with these publics, there were a few occasions when we agreed to disagree. The relationship was however marked by tolerance, a willingness to listen and respect for the role that each one has to play.

During my tenure, a number of newsmen have tried to defame me with unfounded accusations. A few groups dismissed some of my official acts as motivated by selfish political objectives. Perhaps they may have been right and that I may have erred in a few of my judgments. But whether they were right or wrong, I had often asked myself, as a result, these questions: Should I seek another alternative course of action? Or should I consult our people further to find out if there are far better ideas than the one I had? The bottom line was a response that involved our people even more in the decision making process.