BACOLOD City – Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental has been elected on August 8 as the vice chairman for the Visayas of the League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP).
Escalante’s position at LCP is an added feather in his cap after his installation as the new president of the Association of Chief Executives (ACE) in Negros Occidental.
The two other positions he is holding are not just for glamour. Both speak of a certain mission – to make a difference amid the current test of time, Escalante said.
“I just don’t want to carry and brag these two new positions I have right now at LCP and ACE-Negros Occidental. As promised, I will work for each in a meaningful way to the best of my ability,” he stressed.
One of his priorities is to promote the Philippine Normal University’s (PNU) program that aims to produce one teacher per municipality and city a year across the country.
“I will push this with LCP and, at the same time, with ACE-Negros Occidental. This is one noble program meant to ensure that every town and city in the entire country can really produce one teacher per year funded by their respective local governments,” the ACE-Negros Occidental president said.
Cadiz is one of the host localities for PNU campuses across the country.
“Since 1968, we saw how PNU-Visayas in Cadiz evolves into a hub that produces quality teachers,” he said, citing PNU’s reputation for producing quality teachers through the years.
Escalante will also push for the retooling and upskilling of all government disaster workers in towns and cities via disaster risk reduction management summit.
“The time is calling us to be more than prepared with all the natural calamities challenging us now from time to time,” he said. “Hence, we need to train further our disaster workers on how to respond to the modern time disasters to ensure a zero casualty scenario because life is what we need to take care amid crises.”
Escalante thanked all the city mayors of NIR, Western Visayas and the entire Visayas for the trust.
“Trust is priceless. It’s even beyond respect. I will not fail them. I will be the voice of NIR at LCP,” he said.
Other LCP officers from NIR are Bacolod City’s Mayor Greg Gasataya and Himamaylan City Raymund Tongson who were elected as focal mayor for mental health awareness and representative for NIR, respectively.
Meanwhile, Quezon City’s Mayor Joy Belmonte is the new LCP national chairman and San Juan City’s Mayor Francis Zamora is the president./PN
