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As a follow up of the ocular inspection conducted during the holidays and as a legislative action on pressing and timely issue on the high prices of basic commodities in various business establishments in the province, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry spearheaded by Board Member (BM) Jonathan Justo A. Orros with the Committees on Ways and Means, Laws, Rules and Privileges and Information and Communications Technology conducted a joint committee hearing through video conferencing on January 25, 2021.

The joint committees discussed several proposed legislative measures that will help stabilize prices and supply of basic necessities and prime commodities in the province. The proposed measures include enjoining the Local Government Units to re-activate or organize their respective Local Price Coordinating Councils and perform monthly monitoring and inspection to public and private markets and groceries and submit reports to concerned national and local agencies.

Likewise, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI)– La Union Provincial Office is requested to post in their official website or other social media platforms the result of their weekly price monitoring activity and the supply situation of commodities in the province for the information and awareness of the public.

During the hearing, BM Orros informed that the proposed measures were the result of the price monitoring and inspection conducted by DTI and SP Committee on Trade, Commerce and Industry in the two supermarkets in the City of San Fernando on December 17, 2020.

To aid the SP Members in reviewing the proposed measures, DTI Provincial Director Merlie Membrere, Local Economic Enterprise and Investment Promotion Unit Head Charito Dator and Provincial Planning and Development Coordinator Representative Roshelle Mamaril were invited as speakers on the said matter.

Also discussed during the hearing were the price and supply situation of basic necessities and prime commodities in the province; programs of the DTI that provide consumers with safe quality and reasonable prices of products; consumer’s welfare and protection; and price stabilization programs.

The three resolutions that were proposed were all approved by the committees and the same were recommended for adoption during the next SP Regular Session.

“Reset, Rebound, and Recover; Investing for Resiliency and Sustainability.” With the overarching theme of the Duterte Administration proposed FY 2021 Budget, the Province of La Union is aligned on its vision to be a “Stronger La Union” as it’s transformative Governance roadmap in consistency with the effort of the nation on overcoming the challenges brought by the CoViD-19 pandemic while recovering.

With a total available resources for the CY 2021 of P1,566,933,453.00, the Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) will continue to pursue excellence in achieving its mandate to serve the constituents of the Province of La Union. Within this perceived Proposed Budget for CY 2021, an amount of P294,954,520.60 is allotted for the Development Fund with various programs aimed to help the development in the Social, Economic, and Environment sectors. It also includes the annual contingency fund for disasters and calamities whether it be man-made or due to natural disaster amounting to P78,346,672.65.

However, due to the unexpected onset of the CoViD-19 pandemic and its persisting effect into the community, a recalibration of the PGLU plans and budget priorities to include COVID-19 recovery programs, projects, and activities as expenditure priorities for the departments of the province was made for their budget proposals in order to mitigate the effect of the pandemic on the operations of the departments and offices of the province. With this strategy, La Union aims to be a Stronger Province and continue to sustain the lives of the people and enhance the province’ adaptability to resume its progress and inclusive development trajectory. The CY 2021 Propose Budget reflects provisions on addressing the pandemic and the mitigation of the impact and adaptation of the Province of La Union to the new normal ensuring economic recovery and progress.

As included in the Budget Message, Gov. Francisco Emmanuel “Pacoy” R. Ortega III said, “The Provincial Government of La Union shall focus its resources on the updated medium-term transformative strategy on Response, Recovery, and Local Economic Development to achieve a secure, self-sufficient and sustainable province under the new normal arising from addressing the CoViD-19 pandemic and to position La Union as the Heart of Agri-Tourism in Northern Luzon by 2025.” With this, the Resilient Community Sector has the highest amount of proposed allocation comprising 28.23% of the total budget. This sector includes the Provincial Health Office, the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office and Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office. Programs, Projects, and Activities that aimed to address the challenges on environmental sustainability and public health are priorities to be funded and implemented for the coming year. Aside from these offices, the Information and Communication Technology Unit also has significant increase in their proposed budget in order to address the rising demand in e-governance.

In an attempt to safeguard the Lopez Ancestral House in Brgy. Antonino, Balaoan, La Union from the road widening project that will affect the front extension of the house’s ground floor, representatives from the Provincial Government of La Union – La Union Provincial Tourism Office (PGLU-LUPTO), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) La Union First Engineering District Office, and Local Government Unit (LGU) of Balaoan inspected the said structure on January 21, 2020.

The joint inspection comes after the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) attested the house’s cultural and historical significance through a letter dated November 20, 2020 recommending the structure’s protection from any modification or demolition. The agency, however, cannot ascertain if its extension is part of the original house structure.

The provisions of Republic Act 10066 or the National Cultural Heritage Act of 2009 and the DPWH Department Order No. 12-2019 ensure the protection and preservation of cultural and historical sites before the conduct of any construction, renovation, retrofitting or demolition activity directly or indirectly affecting them.

LGU Balaoan is currently coordinating with the relatives and claimants of the said ancestral house. According to Balaoan Municipal Engineer Renato Opeña, an ongoing ownership case is being heard by a local court after the house was allegedly sold to another owner. LGU Balaoan hopes for the settlement of the claimants’ dispute as soon as possible since the road widening project should be accomplished this February 2021.

PGLU-LUPTO teams up with local conservationists to further verify the originality of the house extension, which will be communicated to and confirmed by NHCP. New detailed photographs are being examined after testimonies from old folks in the area claim that an extension is indeed part of the original architectural features. The Lopez family further claims that the house was once used as the town’s administrative center many years ago. The recommendations from the involved parties, especially that of NHCP shall be DPWH’s basis for executing the road widening in front of the Lopez Ancestral House.

As a focus strategy of LUPTO in support of the re-calibrated PGLU’s Strategic Roadmap to a Stronger La Union- the preservation of significant #TatakLUCAL heritage shall cultivate an awareness of our Province #EndowedAndProud of #LaUnionCultureArtsandLanguage.

PDC-EXECOM APPROVES UPDATED PGLU STRATEGIC MAP. The Provincial Development Council-Executive Committee (PDC-ExeCom) chaired by Gov. Francisco Emmanuel “Pacoy” R. Ortega III convenes via ZOOM on January 18, 2021 and approves the Updated Strategic Map of the Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU), which aims to establish La Union as a secure, self-sufficient, and sustainable province.
During the said meeting, Gov. Pacoy highlighted the key improvements in the province’s Strategic Map, which include the updating of the scorecard objectives of the following Strategic Focus of the Province: Financial Stability – Ensure Efficient Financial Strategic Focus of the Province; Governance Partnerships – Explore and Reinforce Governance Partnership; Health – Enhanced Integrated Health Service Delivery; and Tourism and Investment – Spur Sustainable Tourism Development, and inclusion of Environment as one of its Strategic Focus, which aims to foster ecological integrity, and clean and healthy environment to achieve Environmentally Responsible La Union.
“I invite everyone from this great province we call home, as well as our dear governance partners to move forward together and united in our strategy to establish a stronger La Union, a province worth living in,” the governor said.

Being ranked 1st in Region 1 and 13th nationwide, the Province of La Union was recognized during the Cities and Municipalities Competitive Index (CMCI) Recognition Ceremony on January 18, 2021where La Union delegation virtually received it at EM Royale, San Juan La Union to observe health protocols.

In his message, Gov. Francisco Emmanuel “Pacoy” R. Ortega III said, “Governance is constant where no one is allowed to settle. In the public sector, the only comfort zone is and should be, the peoples’ comfort. Beyond all these therefore, there is more work that we can do and we have to do.”

Provincial rankings are based on population and income weighted average of the overall scores of cities and municipalities of the component local government units of a province.

This year, La Union jumped to 13th place from 14th spot in 2019 after achieving an overall average score of 40.0963 nationally. A total of 77 out of 81 provinces qualified for provincial ranking.

On behalf of the Province of La Union, the Most Competitive Province in Region 1 award was received by the Local Economic Enterprise and Investment Promotions Unit (LEEIPU) headed by Ms. Charito C. Dator.

CMCI measures the competitiveness ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities based on data-driven assessment tools on dynamism, relevance, resiliency, and responsiveness to the needs of its stakeholders and constituents. The CMCI is an annual ranking of Philippine cities and municipalities awarded by the Department of Trade and Industry.

The award is a proof of the commitment of the Provincial Government of La Union to deliver relevant public service amidst the pandemic to ensure continuous economic growth creating a #StrongerLaUnion, a province worth living in.

Naguilian District Hospital (NDH) staff shares victory with four CoViD-19 patients who were discharged on January 6 and 12, 2021.

A 31 year old male firefighter from Bacnotan, La Union was admitted in the hospital on December 23, 2020 and was discharged on January 6, 2021.

Three patients from the City of San Fernando, a 40 and 41 year old female frontliners and an 87 year old female admitted on December 29, 2020, were discharged on January 12, 2021.

All patients were given token and were reminded of health protocols.

The Provincial Government of La Union (PGLU) through the Information and Communications Technology Unit (ICTU) developed an in-house and web-based application called NAPANAM Contact Tracer. The system is a centralized CoViD-19 tracking system that uses QR code to monitor the places visited and contact listings of an individual developed for the Province of La Union.

The Sangguniang Panlalawigan passed Resolution No. 1122-2020 enjoining public and private establishments in the Province of La Union to adopt and use the NAPANAM QR code as part of the contact tracing operations in the continuous effort of the Provincial Government of La Union to fight the CoViD-19 pandemic.

On November 13, 2020, the ICTU introduced and oriented the Local Government Units’ designated focal persons via video conferencing. In addition, the ICTU created two teams to conduct on-site trainings of the NAPANAM to their assigned focal person, contact tracers and verifiers. From November 18 to December 3, 2020 the teams performed end-user registrations, responded to inquiries and collected suggestions. In total, 36 NAPANAM focal person, 37 contact tracers and 37 verifiers registered out of the 170 total participants. As of January 5, 2021, there are 17,954 verified NAPANAM Users.

The term NAPANAM is an Ilocano term which means “Where have you been?” The system will provide up-to-date reports and statistics especially for individual; QR Scanning Point and Vehicle Modules were completed on September 2020. NAPANAM has four phases and the first phase is the deployment of the said system to government offices and employees. The Provincial Government of La Union abides to the Data Privacy Act of 2012 to ensure safe and secure information.

NAPANAM Contact Tracer System is an initiative of PGLU in accordance to Department of Health Memorandum 2020-0068 and 2020-0072 Interim Guidelines on Contact Tracing for confirmed 2019 Novel Coronavirus Acute Respiratory Disease (2019nCoV ARD) Cases as well as Joint Memorandum Circular No. 024 Series of 2020 Department of Trade and Industry and Department of Labor and Employment Supplemental Guidelines on Workplace Prevention and Control of CoViD-19.

Online registration for NAPANAM is still ongoing, residents of La Union may register through this link: napanam.launion.gov.ph.