Big feats for a small town

How could a small town achieve so much in so little time?

The island province of Marinduque may be small but not sleepy at all, because the mayor is always fully awake and aware of what he wants his hometown to be right where it is — at the official geographic center of the archipelagic Philippines.

At its southern tip is the town of Buenavista, which, for its size, has the least population of only 26,043 among Marinduque’s total of six component municipalities. But based on the 2020 census, Buenavista registered the highest population growth rate of 1.58 percent, surpassing those of Boac, Gasan, Mogpog, Santa Cruz and Torrijos put together.

For whatever it’s worth, Buenavista’s population growth rate indicates something worth visiting, migrating to or even being born in, at least since 2022 when “miracles” have begun to crop up one after the other.

Such surprises are neatly arrayed at the municipal hall, which teems with plaques of awards and recognitions that have been incredibly amassed in all of barely three years from 2022 to 2024.

These awards span vast fields of disciplines — from child-friendly governance to economic competitiveness and all the way to environmental sustainability and inclusive growth.

Yet, the mayor, Eduard “Bong” Llante Siena, won’t claim credit for any of it all and is quick to attribute those feats to the support and participation of the Buenavista residents, the community leaders, educators, healthcare workers, businessmen and entrepreneurs, national government agencies, local government employees and all other public servants, including visitors and tourists, who share his vision of inclusive and participatory development through community-focused and people-centric policies, transparent governance and non-stop improvements through continuous benchmarking.

“We just have to keep on raising the bar and beating previous performance standards,” Siena said in referring to his concept of “constant progression.”

No wonder the Buenavista town emerged as the top overall performer in the Department of Interior and Local Government’s 2024 National SubayBayani Awards for excellence in managing, developing, monitoring and evaluating locally-funded and select LGU infrastructure projects, such as the Shore Protection Seawall at Barangay IV, Shore Protection Seawall at Barangay Daykitin, Rehab Expansion of Poblacion Waterworks and among others.

Buenavista also surfaced as semi-finalist for the Department of Science and Technology’s Best CEST (Community Empowerment thru Science and Technology) Award for 2024 and Special Award for Technology Innovation.

The award goes to CEST beneficiaries who have effectively applied science and technology in developing marginalized communities in disadvantaged and far-flung areas like those in Buenavista’s Barangay Malbog, Barangay Sihi, Barangay Yook and Barangay Daykitin that have adopted the use of post-harvest Solar Powered Dehydrator at Barangay Daykitin facilities, Solar Powered Ice Plant at Barangay Daykitin machinery and automated Ramp Pump water supply at Barangay Sihi processes in the production of Rice and Vegetable as an industry and source of jobs and livelihood.

Buenavista is hailed as a successful implementer of the Department of Information and Communication Technology’s Electronic Local Government Unit Business Permit and Licensing System (eLGU BPLS) for five consecutive years, enabling entrepreneurs to obtain their business permits and licenses within 1 hour from time of filing.

At the same time, the system provides a reliable database for assessing the growth of the various local industry sectors, the gaps in the supply and value chain, the required physical infrastructure and economic policy support, the benchmarks for continued and forward-looking administrative improvements and timely interventions, and a sound basis for strategic development planning and tactical program implementation, thus generating a highly-professionalized and responsive human-centric mode of governance and public service.

The Buenavista town has also received the Gawad KALASAG (Kalamidad at Sakuna Labanan, Sariling Galing ang Kaligtasan) Award from the Office of Civil Defense–National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council not just twice but thrice. It was adjudged fully compliant in 2022 and 2023, and beyond compliant in 2024 for local risk reduction and management.

Likewise in 2024, the Buenavista town earned the DILG’s much-coveted Seal of Good Local Governance in terms of performance, transparency, accountability and service delivery. Previously in 2023, the same award highlighted Buenavista’s “Business Friendliness; Safety, Peace and Order; and Environmental Management.”

Similarly, the Buenavista town emerged on top in the DoST’s 2024 Best Community Awards in the MIMAROPA (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romblon, Palawan) region and beating its other 70 municipalities in the application of science and technology in local development and governance.

Moreover, the commendations earned by the Buenavista town even included one from the Philippine Association of Civil Registrars, who apparently couldn’t help but notice the dedication and commitment of the local government in serving its constituencies through accurate and timely civil registration and ease and speed of access to such documents for various purposes.

In the same vein, the Buenavista government’s prioritization of health and nutrition, among many others, also couldn’t go unnoticed with its active support for the corresponding broadcast media promotion and crusade for a drug-free community, both contributing to the town’s high functional rating for its councils on peace and order (91.25 percent), protection of children (81.2 percent) and anti-trafficking and violence against women and children (90 percent).

The Buenavista LGU was also the first in Regional Level to institutionalize the Local Governance Resource Center for providing the tools, knowledge and facilities for effective public service delivery and thus eliciting a plaque of commendation from DILG on 15 December 2022 or barely six months since Mayor Siena assumed office.

For that same year, the Buenavista town topped the MIMAROPA region and placed 4th nationwide for resiliency among 3rd to 4th class municipalities, highlighting its efforts in improving the life of its constituents.

As if all these recognitions were not enough, the Buenavista town also received from the DENR Environmental Management Bureau the award for “Outstanding Practices in Upcycling and Crafts Production” in the MIMAROPA region, effectively underscoring the local government’s pursuit of natural and cultural preservation and promotion.

Still, all such awards are just the tip of the iceberg, which Mayor Siena has obviously but miraculously built on in just three years, even as many projects are methodically racked up in the pipeline while others are still taking conceptual shape on the drawing board.

As to what keeps him going, Mayor Siena quipped: “All it takes is a vision and everything else follows.”