Concepcion town reaps more awards
Mayor Banias
Concepcion town in Northern Iloilo romped away with more awards recently, sweeping the top accolades during a recognition program conducted by the Department of Social Welfare and Development for its Early Childhood Development Program.
"Concepcion did a Pacquiao," said an exuberant municipal mayor Raul Banias. "We won all the awards ... Best LGU, Best Midwife, Best Daycare Worker, Best Day Care Mom, and Best Community Development Worker."
The regional awards give Concepcion a chance to compete in the national finals.
The recent ECDP recognition stretches Concepcion's "winning streak" after capping the year 2005 with the national Galing Pook award as the country's most outstanding town in the implementation of various poverty alleviation programs. The town was cited for its successful integration of population, health, environment and other allied programs. The award, presented in Malacañang last December 20, 2005, was accompanied by a P1 million grant from the Philippine Council for Development.
Earlier, on November 30, 2005, Mayor Raul Banias received the prestigious Rafael Salas Memorial Award for Population and Development.
Banias views the award as "a stamp of approval for what we're doing." He also described the Galing Pook award to be "the highest recognition for best practices in governance."
Banias added: "Our vision is to achieve zero poverty. Our efforts are essentially about human development, improving our human capital."
Incidentally, Concepcion's Gawad Kalinga housing program recently received a windfall from an unexpected source. The Couples For Christs (CFC) association in Malta will be donating $75 thousand for the construction of 75 housing units and 1 chapel.
"Truly, our there's hope for this country. Our dream, Zero Poverty in 2020, lives on," enthused Banias.
Concepcion also garnered the Most Outstanding Peace and Order Council award last year.