Tanauan,
Leyte (13 March) -- This town,
which is widely known for having been
twice awarded as the country's Most Business
Friendly Municipality, is once again catching
the attention of many.
Since
its inauguration on August 8, 2008, visitors
from the 54 barangays of the municipality
and from the different places of the Philippine
Archipelago, have been singing praises
about the new Municipal Hall of Tanauan.
Just
recently, Tanauan received the "Best
Municipal Hall Award" from Lakbayin
ang Magandang Pilipinas, an Anak TV recognized
television program over NBN 4.
What
is all about the Tanauan Municipal Hall
that is getting good raves and making
people including architecture students
trooping in?
Patterned
after the town's old Spanish period Presidencia,
the Tanauan Municipal Hall prominently
stands with its 42-square meter veranda
overlooking the town's main street and
the spacious patio on both sides and rendering
an aura of elegant royalty reminiscent
of the bygone colonial dynasty, a very
good venue for presentations, announcements
and occasions which call for a bigger
audience.
Entering
the Municipal Hall, the guest is welcomed
by the friendly receptionists at the Information
Desk. The receptionists see to it that
the guest is led to the right office he
intends to visit.
Walking
into the lobby, the guest is greeted by
a homely ambiance - a frame-like built-in
dais that serves as a mini stage, a wide
screened state of the art television,
a built it multimedia projector which
flashes announcements and welcomes important
visitors, tables and chairs, a big lounge
area for visitors and clients while waiting
for their transactions to be completed.
Since
the entire area of the Municipal Hall
is a WI-FI zone, the clients could bring
in their laptops and do their internet
jobs in the lounge area.
Talking
about maximum functionality, the lobby
doubles as a venue for important programs
and meetings which call for smaller audience.
Looking
at his right, the visitor will find glass
walled numbered offices, the number 1
among which greets every visitor with
the signage "Dayon, Ayaw Pag-alang"
(Please come in, Don't Hesitate). This
is the Office of the Mayor, Atty. Roque
Tiu, who, because of his desire to be
more accessible to the constituents, broke
traditions and decided to
hold office in the ground floor.
Also
housed in the 1,126 square meter Ground
Floor, are the most frequented offices
of the Local Government Unit, the Municipal
Treasurer, Licensing, Assessor, Budget,
Agriculture, Social Welfare and Human
Resource offices.
The
frontline service offices have been so-designed
in such a way that wide windows allow
face-to-face communications, not the usual
glass-in holed ones where transactions
are limited to just a peep-hole communication.
This
design has been found effective in expediting
business transactions. Thus while doing
business in other localities usually takes
days or even months, the same will only
take a few minutes as Red Tape is not
a home-word in Tanauan.
Raising
up his gaze, the visitor will find himself
staring at a giant improvised chandelier
made of local materials, silver balusters
and more offices, and he will continue
to wonder at the simple and at the same
time awesome elegance his new Municipal
Hall exudes. What more! The visitor, just
by standing at the lobby, is able to know
where each office is in the second floor,
the Vice Mayor's, Sangguniang Bayan, BIR,
Comelec, Accountant, Planning, Engineering,
Register of Deeds.
A
paging system and audio facility, a suggestion
box, well-publicized cell phone numbers
of the Mayor, other key officials and
department heads, are all expressions
of the town leadership's desire for a
sustained accessibility and effective
two-way communication system between the
people and the government officials.
Not
forgetting the employees, Mayor Tiu saw
to it that there is air-conditioner unit
and piped-in music in every office to
set an inspiring, refreshing, stress-free
work environment.
Tanauan
has the rare privilege of having a chief
executive with a vision that stretches
far beyond the borders of tomorrow, and
a commitment and enthusiasm to continue
giving the best for his constituents even
at the last stretch of his term of office.
A
paragon of a self-less quintessential
leader, Mayor Roque Tiu always had the
molding of the future leaders of the municipality
foremost in his mind. Within one year
upon assumption into office, he was able
to make more than 100% the number of Day
Care Centers for the pre-school children.
He initiated the diversified and specialized
fields in each of the public high schools
in the municipality and the APEX system
of high school education, is now one of
the show windows of such system of education
not only in the country but even in the
neighboring ASEAN countries.
Mayor
Tiu is not resting on his laurels. He
is contemplating of converting the old
municipal building into a training center
for TESDA-Certifiable courses for the
unemployed, out-of-school youths and the
underemployed constituents.
He
also plans to construct a Half-way Home,
where the residents of far-flung barangays
who missed the public transport and are
stranded in the town proper, could find
shelter for the night.
The
town prides itself for being the first
municipal implementer of the Community
eCenter catering to the IT needs and linking
its people to the information highway.
Tanauan is the first municipality in the
country to initiate eSkwela project of
CICT, to mainstream the out of school
youth and adults of the municipality,
into the formal education highway.
Tanauan,
a community of peace-loving people, has
the lowest crime rate in the Region and
Number One police force in the province
of Leyte.
Indeed,
the Tanauan Municipal Hall was awarded
as the Best Municipal Hall, not so much
for its elegance and architectural design,
but because it was designed and built
with people in mind.
Built
mostly from savings of the Local Government
and the Provincial Government, the Tanauan
Municipal Hall speaks well of the kind
of leadership the local government has.
So
designed and tailored in such a way that
every one who enters it will have a sense
of belonging and a feeling of pride to
be a Tanauananon, the Tanauan Municipal
Hall is a hallmark of people-friendly,
people-centered local governance. (PIA
8)
