MABALACAT CITY—In usual circumstances, local chief executives of towns and cities often earmark project and program budgets from their own coffers to benefit their own citizens and jurisdiction—not so for Mayor Crisostomo Garbo of this city who is seeking reelection for his second term.
Mayor Garbo, along with Vice Mayor Gerald Guttrie Aquino and their line up of councilors, filed their Certificates of Candidacy (COC) at the Commission on Elections (Comelec) in Mabalacat City on Thursday, October 7, 2021, to seek fresh mandates for the upcoming 2022 national and local elections.
His reelection bid comes on the heels of recent donation of police patrol cars to 19 towns of Pampanga and to the PNP Pampanga Provincial Office (PPO). The province has 21 towns and cities, including this city, City of San Fernando and Angeles City.
It can be recalled that last month, Garbo made true his pledge to former Pampanga Governor Lilia Pineda to apportion city’s local resources to aid other local government units from Mabalacat’s share of its Gross Income Earned (GIE) from Clark locator-firms. This city receives an average of P700 million as GIE, representing 2-percent share as mandated by Republic Act 9400. Aside from the patrol cars, this city also donated 16 ambulances since 2020, including to LGUs where it has sisterhood agreements.
Garbo, together with Pampanga Governor Dennis “Delta” Pineda, turned over a total of 20 brand-new police patrol cars to Pampanga police stations across the province on September 3, 2021. Nineteen were given to LGUs while one was assigned to the PPO.
No less than Philippine National Police (PNP) chief Gen. Guillermo Lorenzo Eleazar received the Nissan Navarra pick up trucks and witnessed by chiefs of police in the province. Aside from the patrol cars, Mabalacat City also turned over brand-new M16 UDMC rifles to the PNP.
In a news statement, Garbo said that the donated units of police mobile will help boost police visibility, safety and public order not only in Mabalacat City but in Pampanga as a whole. He added, “we can only succeed in making our respective localities peaceful and livable if we take that unified stride together.”
PNP chief Eleazar said that the initiative is a proof of the strong collaboration and support extended by Mabalacat LGU not only to its local police but also to various police forces outside the city.
“Napakaganda na ito ay gayahin sa ibang pagkakataon at sa ibang lugar kung kakayanin din lamang. Napakaswerte [at] pinagpala ang Mabalacat City for having the support particularly from Clark,” the PNP chief said.
Garbo is gunning for his second term as mayor of the component city. Under his administration, he ushered in “Bayung Mabalacat” or “New Mabalacat”, where he initiated people-centric governance that propelled various public service programs and extended it to the grassroots level.
Better social services, improved economic conditions, more infrastructure projects, unparalleled medical and health programs in the midst of unrelenting fight against Covid-19 also capped Garbo’s first term as mayor.