THE SECOND CITY COUNCIL, 2004-2007

The term of the Second City Council of Vigan has come to an end but the chamber’s role to legislate to protect the heritage remains. As an institution, the legislative branch of the City Government of Vigan will continue to perform its functions to make laws, approve development plans, and appropriate funds for the general welfare.

We will remember the Second City Council for enacting landmark legislations for the City of Vigan. Among which are the Vigan Conservation Code as amended, Vigan Revenue Code as amended, Investment Incentives Code, Transportation and Traffic Code, Vigan Youth Code, Ordinance Establishing the Traditional Industries Board, Ordinance Granting an Annual Development Budgetary Aid to all Barangay Governments to at least One Hundred Thousand Pesos(Php 100,000.00), Ordinance Bestowing Monthly Performance Allowance for Barangay Officials and Tanods, and Ordinance Providing Annual Group Insurance Policy for Barangay Officials and Tanods.

We will also remember the Second City Council for pioneering projects such as the Electronic Session(E-Session), 1st Vigan City Job Fair, 1st Himig ng Kalayaan, 1st Bikini Challenge, 1st Heritage Showdance, and a weekly radio program, “Ti Konseho ti Vigan.” The Second City Council will be remembered as the Outstanding Sanggunian of Ilocos Sur and the First Runner-up of Region I.

In line with its Vision to come up with a dynamic, independent, responsive and effective legislative body that will ensure a better quality of life of the people, the Vigan City Council remains committed to legislate to protect the heritage.

THE NEED FOR CULTURAL MAPPING IN THE BARANGAYS

Cultural mapping is the identification and protection of cultural properties in a given place. It’s more than the inventory of ancestral houses, artifacts, religious icons, works of art and other cultural properties. It includes the commitment and passion to conserve them. Cultural mapping goes hand in hand with heritage conservation. Education is vital in this kind of endeavor. The people, especially those in the barangays must be informed well so that appreciation can come in. There can only be effective and meaningful conservation of cultural properties if the stakeholders learn to give importance to their heritage.

Speaking of heritage, which has been defined as Legacy of the Past, Vigan’s thrust nowadays through the cultural mapping project is to expand the concept of heritage conservation. At present, the City has embarked a cultural mapping project to identify and have an inventory of all our cultural properties, be it

BUILT Heritage- such as the ancestral houses of Vigan;

INTANGIBLE Heritage – such as our songs, dances, cuisines, customs, traditions and practices;

MOVABLE Heritage – such as paintings, statues, jewelries, relics, and the like;

NATURAL Heritage - such as our centuries-old trees, rivers, natural parks, and the vista of the mountains and the seas.

As a World heritage site, it is now a must for us to be comprehensive in approach when it comes to conservation. Conserving our heritage is preserving our civilization. Through Cultural Mapping , we can tell the world that as Bigueños and Filipinos, we have an identity to be proud of. We can only achieve this with the committed involvement of the barangays. There is a felt need to conduct cultural mapping in the barangay level.

FEW BRAVE SOULS

Local Government Taxation is one of the most avoided topics among politicians. Under the Philippine setting, local legislators tend to shy away when it comes to sponsorships of tax measures. The passage of the New Vigan Revenue Code came at a time when we were still reeling from the Expansion of the Value-Added Tax imposed by the National Government. In the City of Vigan, after being challenged by Mayor Ferdinand Medina in his State of the City Address in June of 2005, a few months before the expiration of the moratorium of local taxes under the City Charter of Vigan(R.A. 8988), the City Council started to work on the enactment of a New Revenue Code. It did not come easy. Few brave souls patiently and relentlessly worked for its passage. From the time it was first presented, to the series of consultations and public hearings, discussions in the committee level, debate in the plenary and until the final voting, the proposed code was met with apprehensions. But, that’s the beauty of legislation, and Vigan can proudly tell that it is one of the few local government units which has consistently conducted honest-to-goodness public hearings and consultations in the passage of its revenue code.

As a compromise with the business sector, the New Vigan Revenue Code generally did not increase the rates of taxes. What was increased were the regulatory fees, taxes on banks and financial institutions, taxes on the operation of cockpit arenas, and taxes on tobacco trading. From these activities, the amount of 9 (nine) million pesos is expected to be generated as additional income for development projects. The challenge is now with the City Treasurer’s office to implement the code and efficiently collect taxes. The City Council has done its part but it will continue to monitor the implementation of the New Revenue Code under its oversight powers. The last time that the revenue code of Vigan was updated was in 1984, thus, the passage of the New Vigan Revenue Code is really a breakthrough.

I would like to thank the Members of the Second City Council who acted with prudence in deliberating the New Vigan Revenue Code. Special mention to Councilor Loreto Quibilan, the Principal Proponent of this Ordinance; Councilor Ever Molina, the Chairman of the Committee on Rules of the Second City Council, whose parliamentary skills contributed in the smooth passage of the ordinance; Former Councilor Germelina Singson-Goulart, whose strong political will provided the inspiration in the approval of this revenue code; my Chief of Staff, Atty. Mhelygene Tesoro who provided the legal research; Ms. Ema Tugade, researcher of the Vice Mayor’s Office, who painstakingly provided inputs in this project; City Treasurer Milagros Contreras, for her dedication in attending public hearings; Mrs. Rowena Raboy, the City Council stenographer, whose notes helped us determine the legislative intent of the ordinance; and Dr. Esperanza Lahoz, President of the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Ilocos Sur Chapter, whose advocacy to protect the business sector provided the necessary balance in the formulation of this code.

On a personal note, the challenge to come up with a New Revenue Code a year before the election, made me realize that there are few brave souls ready to work for the city.

Appeal to Congress: Declare Vigan as Special Tourism Zone

I am proposing to the City Council of Vigan a resolution requesting the new congressman of the first district of Ilocos Sur, Representative Ronald V. Singson to file a bill in Congress declaring Vigan as Special Tourism Zone. The idea was suggested by Vigan Mayor Eva Marie S. Medina.

Congress should consider the following:

* Vigan represents a unique fusion of Asian building design and construction with European architecture and planning.

* Vigan is an exceptionally intact and well preserved example of a European trading town in the East and East Asia.

* The historical and cultural significance of Vigan makes it unique among the other cities of the Philippines.

* The City of Vigan was inscribed in the UNESCO World Heritage List in 1999 because of its Outstanding Universal Value, thus, making it as the only World Heritage City of the Philippines.

* Vigan has increasingly attracted both local and foreign tourists.

A national law should be passed to specifically promote, preserve and maintain Vigan as a World Heritage Site and a major tourist destination. The foregoing justifies the declaration of Vigan as Special Tourism Zone whereby tax incentives be given to tourists and investors, likewise to tourism-related activities.

The declaration of Vigan as Special Tourism Zone would pave the way for organized tourism activities in the City and the Province.