BAGUIO CITY – Mayor Mauricio G. Domogan said the realization of the Baguio-La Trinidad-Itogon-Sablan-Tuba-Tublay (BLISTT) growth corridor will not be affected by conflicting policies of the involved local governments and the personal interests of concerned local officials.
The local chief executive pointed out the members of the BLISTT Governing Council where he is the chairman will not allow personal interests of concerned local officials and the implementation of conflicting policies by the involved local governments to ruin the gains of the council which had been achieved over the past several decades.
“We will not allow the gains of the BLISTT Governing Council to be simply derailed by the mistakes of some officials in some local governments in the implementation of policies which they believe to be applicable in their places but are contrary to the policies being imposed by other local governments within the BLISTT. We can easily talk things over among ourselves to settle problems that will arise in our efforts to improve the situation in our areas of jurisdiction,” Domogan stressed.
The implementation of the new truck ban in the city is now being questioned by provincial and municipal officials of Benguet and officers of truckers associations because it has significantly affected the local vegetable industry, the primary economic driver of Benguet over the past several decades.
According to him, local officials in Baguio and Benguet have probably achieved the degree of maturity that enables them to differentiate their own personal interests from the greater interest of the majority of their constituents that is why he sees no compelling reason why the realization of the establishment of the BLISTT will be derailed simply because of certain misunderstandings on the implementation of conflicting policies which could be immediately corrected anytime.
He explained local officials are just human beings who commit mistakes in the discharge of their official duties and responsibilities and can rectify mistakes they may have committed to prevent the negative impact of their actions to the general welfare of their constituents.
He claimed meetings are always organized where they can tackle various issues that tend to affect the interest of the populace living within the BLISTT communities and it will be a remote possibility for the BLISTT to be disbanded because of misunderstandings on the policies being implemented by the involved local governments, thus, the need for them to thresh out the problems and make the necessary adjustments the soonest for the benefit of the general public.
The Regional Development Council (RDC) in the Cordillera is the secretariat of the BLISTT Governing Council pending the enactment of a law that will mandate the creation of the BLISTT Development Authority to administer the affairs of the Council and to guarantee its realization considering that the BLISTT was envisioned by European urban planners as the mechanism to will guarantee the development of Baguio and the neighboring towns of Benguet. /By Dexter A. See
