Mayor Salvador Escalante Jr. of Cadiz City, Negros Occidental, who has been just been elected League of Cities of the Philippines (LCP) vice president for the Visayas, has pledged to be “the voice of the Negros Island Region (NIR)” within the organization.
Escalante, who was also recently elected president of the Negros Association of Chief Executives (ACE), was voted into his new LCP role during an election held in Manila on Friday, August 8.
The new LCP national chairman is Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte and its president is San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora.
Other officers from the Negros include Bacolod City Mayor Greg Gasataya as the LCP’s focal mayor for mental health awareness, and Himamaylan City Mayor Raymund Tongson as the representative for NIR.
Speaking on his new responsibilities with both Negros ACE and LCP, Escalante said, “I will work for each in a meaningful way to the best of my ability.”
One of his key priorities is to promote a program of the Philippine Normal University (PNU) that aims to produce one teacher per municipality and city a year across the country, with funding from local governments.
Escalante praised the program, citing PNU’s reputation for producing quality educators, and noted that Cadiz has been a host locality for a PNU campus since 1968.
Escalante also plans to push for the retooling and upskilling of government disaster workers through a disaster risk reduction management summit, emphasizing the need for towns and cities to be more prepared for natural calamities to ensure “a zero casualty scenario.”
He thanked the city mayors of the NIR, Western Visayas, and the entire Visayas for their trust, saying, “Trust is priceless. It’s even beyond respect. I will not fail them. I will be the voice of NIR at LCP.”*