Mayor Bona Hobnobs with Pres. BBM

 By Mortz C. Ortigoza

PASAY CITY – Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno hobnobbed with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. during the sideline of the general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) at the Marriott Hotel held here recently.

The lady chief executive was part of the 1,508 mayors from all over the country that attended the conclave last February 27 to 29, 2024.

PREXY & LADY MAYOR. Mangaldan Mayor Bona Fe D. Parayno (left) rubs elbow with President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr. during the recent general assembly of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) at the Marriott Hotel in Pasay City. (PIO-Mangaldan)

The assembly’s theme for this year was “SDGs Localization: Pathway to Sustainable Municipal Development”. It served as a platform for the collaborative efforts of all municipal mayors in the Philippines to address the challenges towards reaching their goals.

According to the Public Information Office of Mangaldan, Parayno attended the LMP’s General Assembly to actively participate on the discussions to the best practices, local and international linkages and capacity development regarding updates and trends on local governance.

President Marcos exhorted the participants not to waste their mandates on “petty things,” but instead promote community participation and engagement with constituents in decision-making processes.

“It is about going for ambitious projects that span several terms, without regard for who will inaugurate them when completed, instead of picking ones that are ribbon-cutting ready before elections and the campaign,” the President said.

During her term as the mayor of Mangaldan in 2016 to 2019, Parayno joined a small group of the members of the LMP- Pangasinan Chapter bound to Davao City in July 2018.

As an appointed spokesperson of the group, Mayor Parayno personally requested the concerns of some of the mayors in Pangasinan to President Rodrigo Duterte, according to this newspaper’s account titled: Mayor Bona Thrills by Duterte’s “Kiss”.

She even lobbied the President to intercede for the tens of millions of roads and eco- projects for her town that materialized during the stint of her immediate predecessor Mayor Mary Marilyn Lambino.

In March 2015, Parayno told reporters that the Angalacan River dike would become a tourist attraction once the Eco Park with a bike trail was fully developed.

“We want to preserve the river system especially that it has been a hall of famer for the search for the cleanest river in the province,” the lady mayor said.

The eight- kilometer Eco Park project supposed to cover Barangays Embarcadero, Tebag, Pogo, Salaan, Nibaliw and Palua along the Angalacan River.

Each of the six villages needed P10 million from the national government to prevent flood erosion and dredging, the chief executive cited.

The project supposed to include a 15- kilometer mountain biking trail as an added tourist activity for local and foreign tourists who would visit the Minor Basilica of Our Lady of the Rosary of Manaoag which is near the landlocked town.

When Parayno left office in June 30, 2019, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) completed the first phase of the road in April 2021.

Facing the Angalacan River in Mangaldan town, the 900-meter concrete road has a river protection barrier of 1-meter x 1 meter x 0.5 meter parapet walls and 200-meter flood control system consisting of six-meter long per sheet pile project that extends to Barangay Embarcadero area up to Barangay Nibaliw in this town.

District Engineer Edita Manuel of the Pangasinan 2nd District Engineering Office said the P44.8 million road and eco-tourism project would not only serve as an access route leading to the park being developed as a tourist destination but would eventually lead in community development by providing alternative source of livelihood and economic benefits to the Mangaldanians specifically Barangays Embarcadero, Nibaliw, Tebag and Salaan.

DPWH said the phase II of the project eventually followed. It consisted of 1,195 meters’ concrete road with stone masonry and parapet wall and a 6.10 meters’ width of road carriageway.