Mangaldan Ends 2022 with Big Bangs

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

MANGALDAN, Pangasinan – The newly elected mayor of this thriving town ended the year with a double big bangs as she garnered two prestigious government awards late of last year.

Mayor Bonafe D. Parayno told Northern Watch Newspaper that the landlocked first class municipality won the Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) and the SubayBAYANI awards.

MANGALDAN Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno shows the plaque where the town’s Municipal Health Office won the Bannuar Iti Salun-At for Best Pharmaceutical Management Systems Program Implementer during the 𝗚𝗮𝘄𝗮𝗱 𝗞𝗮𝗹𝘂𝘀𝘂𝗴𝗮𝗻 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟮 awarding ceremony held in Bauang, La Union on December 12, 2022.

“Napakasaya ko po, napakasaya namin sa Mangaldan at nabigyan ng importansiya ang ginagawa ng aming municipal employees at siyempre nandiyan din ang mga citizens na aming pinagsisilbihan,” she told the representatives of the various local government units (LGUs) in Region -1 at a fete held in November 10, 2022 at EM Royalle Hotel and Beach Resort in San Juan, La Union.

Mangaldan became No. 1 among several LGUs in the 48 towns and cities’ province because of its excellent monitoring and evaluation systems and advocacy for the preservation of transparency and accountability in the conduct of local project implementation and management.

Subaybayan ang Proyektong Bayan (SubayBAYAN) is the official online system monitoring of the Department of Interior & Local Government (DILG) that provides real-time information on the physical and financial status as well as the information on the actual location, implementation, and other basic data of the local funded projects (LFPs).

The booming town was among the 18 municipalities and cities in Pangasinan who won the most coveted and stringent on criteria basis 2022’s SGLG.

 “Nanalo rin kami sa SGLG,” he told this writer on the awarding held in Manila Hotel- Fiesta Pavillon in December 14, 2022.

DILG Secretary Benhur Abalos, Jr. said that out of 1,715 provinces, cities and municipalities nationwide, only 20.4 percent have received the recent Seal.

 He was elated that 350 LGUs composed of 18 provinces, 60 cities, and 272 municipalities hurdled the SGLG’s strict parameters. Abalos said the 350 LGUs are sources of inspiration to other local governments in pursuing meaningful local autonomy and development.

Among the 48 LGUs in Pangasinan, only the provincial government, two cities, and seventeen towns were honored.

These recipients were the cities of Alaminos and San Carlos and the towns of Aguilar, Alcala, Asingan, Anda, Balungao, Basista, Bugallon, Burgos, Lingayen, Malasiqui, Mangaldan, San Fabian, San Manuel, San Quintin, Santa Maria, Santo Tomas, Urbiztondo, and Villasis.

Mayor Parayno will use the P5 million incentive fund from the DILG to buy a set of solar lights to be installed in one of the villages in the town.

Parayno had been winning the SGLG when she was a six years’ mayor of this burgeoning town. She was reelected for the mayorship last May 9, 2022 election.

“I had more than 10,000 votes margin against my opponent,” she told Northern Watch Newspaper on the lead votes that defeated one-term Mayor Marilyn Lambino. Lambino defeated Parayno in the May 2019 mayoralty election.