Another Filipino joins world’s top city mayors of 2012

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO—Angeles City Mayor Edgardo Pamintuan is the latest Filipino public servant to join the list of the top 10 world mayors in 2012.

Pamintuan was the fourth Philippine local chief executive to be named to the prestigious global list by the London-based City Mayors Foundation (CMF).

The three others are City of San Fernando Mayor Oscar Rodriguez, who was voted in 2004, former Makati City Mayor and now Vice President Jejomar Binay in 2006 and former Marikina City Mayor Marides Fernando in 2008.

Pamintuan placed 8th in the worldwide competition.

Since becoming Angeles City mayor in 2010, Pamintuan “concentrated on improving the city’s health system, providing better education for all and investing in infrastructure,” according to the CMF.

It said Pamintuan “has remained popular with residents who welcome improvements in drainage and environmental infrastructure, as well as work on health care and welfare, including education.”

The CMF cited testimonials which praised Pamintuan for specific achievements, among them his legacy as the first mayor to build a city college that provides low-cost education to the community; the planting of 200,000 trees with the help of volunteers to mitigate  flooding; and for modernizing the city hospital.

Pamintuan has “also maintained the confidence of business leaders, who believe that the mayor’s efforts in curbing graft and corruption are succeeding,” the CMF said, citing the Seal of Good Housekeeping award given to Angeles City by the Department of the Interior and Local Government.

In November last year, the Superbrands Marketing International Inc. named Pamintuan one of six most outstanding mayors in the country.

Mayor Iñaki Azkuna of Bilbao, Spain, led the 2012 list that also included Lisa Scaffidi of Perth, Australia; Joko Widodo of Surakarta, Indonesia; Régis Labeaum of Québec City, Canada; John Cook of El Paso, USA; Park Wan-su of Changwon City, China; Len Brown

of Auckland, New Zealand; MouhibKhatir of Zeralda, Algeria; and Alfonso Sánchez Garza of Matamoros, Mexico.

Pamintuan said the award “recognizes also the dedication and hard work our city officials and civil employees in the good governance mandate.”

“It is our collective efforts that make Angeles City a livable place, where the poor are genuinely cared for,” he added. Tonette Orejas, Inquirer Central Luzon