by Dong de los Reyes September 14, 2022 Quezon chief executive Dr. Helen Tan with Quezon Vice Mayors' League (Photo from VM Lovely Reyn...
September 14, 2022
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| Quezon chief executive Dr. Helen Tan with Quezon Vice Mayors' League (Photo from VM Lovely Reynoso) |
LUCENA CITY - Quezon chief executive Dr. Helen Tan led the swearing in of 41 elected vice mayors of 39 towns and two cities of the province in rites held at the Provincial Governor's Office.
Infanta vice mayor Lord Arnel Ruanto was elected as president of the Vice-Mayors' League of the Philippines (Quezon Chapter) with Lopez vice-mayor Maria Adeline Lee as vice-president.
Sariaya vice mayor Alex Tolentino was installed as secretary-general, Atimonan vice mayor Zenaida Veranga as chapter treasurer, Mulanay's Jay Castillejos as auditor and Lovely Reynoso of Tayabas City, public relations officer.
Elected into the chapter's board of directors were Mauban's Alween Sardea, Gina Gonzales of Burdeos for the province's first district; Tiaong's Roderick Umali and San Antonio's Jennifer Murphy for the second district; Pitogo's Paul Villaflor and Padre Burgos's Edonna Amith for the 3rd district; Ryan Panol of Perez and Norman Dubloiz of Guinayangan for the 4th district.
L. A. Ruanto who supported VP Leni Robredo in the May 9 vote is batting for the establishment of a Vice-Mayor's Academy that will serve as training ground for Quezon vice-mayors to share best practices that can be put to use in their respective areas.
The academy would also allow vice mayors to learn the nitty-gritty of their tasks and responsibilities as town/city council presiding officers, the conduct of parliamentary procedures and the crafting of ordinances and resolutions.
Ruanto made waves in the Calabarzon region with his opposition to the MWSS Kaliwa Dam project which will be built in Sitio Cablao, Brgy. Pagsangahan, General Nakar, Quezon and Sitio Queborosa, Brgy. Magsaysay, Infanta, Quezon. The P12.2-billion dam project includes a tunnel which will traverse the dam location all the way up to Teresa town in Rizal province.
Opposition to the dam project stems from government borrowing of funds from China in which 85% of the project cost will be China loans with 15% to be shouldered by government. In 2014, the project that was approved would have been at no cost to the government.
Before he was elected as Infanta vice mayor, Ruanto served as Infanta councilor. He crafted ordinances such as providing Livestream of the Sanggunian sessions, local Legislative and Executive Development Advisory Council (LLEDAC), Freedom of Information, and People's Council in pursuit of transparency in governance and providing needful information to the public.
Ruanto has recently attended a 3-day training programme for young legislators at the Lee Kuan Yew School of Public Policy at the National University of Singapore. He was included among the 100 scholars of National Movement of Young Legislators-Lee Kuan Yew.
Vice mayor duties
Any Filipino citizen at least 21 years old on election day can be elected as vice mayor. S/he must be a registered voter in the town/city where s/he intends to be elected and must have resided in that locality for at least a year before election day. Too, she must be able to read and write in Filipino or any other local language or dialect.
A vice-mayor can be elected to a maximum of three 3-year consecutive consecutive terms of office.
The vice mayor presides over meetings of the sangguniang bayan/lungsod and signs warrants for expenditures appropriated for its operation.
Except for those provided in the Local Government Code, the vice mayor can appoint officials and employees of the sanggunian.
She assumes the mayor's post in the event of permanent vacancy.
Take-home pay for vice-mayors of highly urbanized cities is P153,658 a month while vice-mayors of component cities get P120,337 monthly.
Town vice-mayors receive a monthly pay of P100,788.
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