Tulabut: The Apalit turnaround
February 18, 2011
GONE are the days when this town was known to be a hotbed – of carnapping, of environmental mess.
Apalit, the southernmost Pampanga town, has rebuilt itself from a known lair for carnapped vehicles and toxic effluents by factories.
And Mayor Oscar “Junjun” Tetangco Jr. is quick to acknowledge that the turnaround was a collective effort, starting with the grassroots leaders, the barangay residents, members of the Sangguniang Bayan. A humble leader at his early 30s, Mayor Junjun just won’t take credit for himself.
Now, we don’t need elaborate statistics or lengthy police reports on those aforementioned. Let’s just recall news items in the last five weeks or so when carnap syndicates have been pinpointed behind the brutal murders of Venson Evangelista and Emerson Lozano.
News coverage did not stop at the apprehension of suspects such as the Dominguez brothers. One must remember that there were subsequent raids of suspected hideouts and warehouses.
I don’t remember police raiding and finding carnapping lairs in Apalit which was once known as a refuge and trading point for parts and accessories from stolen vehicles. Capalangan has been renewed, transformed.
What I remember is that police found safehouses that yielded stolen cars and parts in Mabalacat, Mexico, City of San Fernando. Just when I thought good memory escapes me, colleague Ding Cervantes of Philippine Star, even added Angeles City in the list.
As for Apalit? Squeaky clean now of shady trading and characters in carnap or chop-chop vehicle business.
Mayor Junjun admittedly added that there were queries and probes in view of the renewed police operations. But our law enforcers found nothing fishy there but legitimate shops that showed proofs of purchases of salvaged parts from insurance firms. Things and documents that meant legitimate livelihood for hundreds of families in the town.
The stigma may still be there for Apalit but Mayor Junjun is successful in causing the turnaround. Thus, a new image for the town.
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He adds that aside from clean business, peace and order is also key in attracting and generating new investments.
Why am I saying he is succeeding? No less than the mall and consumer retail giant ShoeMart is set to open by May this year a three-level Supercenter right in the heart of Apalit.
Puregold (supermarket) is also in the town while another Divisoria-type building – the Blue Arcade Mall – is ready for tough competitions.
There are also hundreds if not thousands of other magnet trades and opportunities related to these business developments in the field of supply chain, transportation, other cottage industries.
But ultimately, this means jobs and livelihood for countless many in Apalit and adjoining towns. Now, if you don’t call that as successful, I don’t know what is.
I can give other manifestations such as statistics. Take these: total business establishments have been doubled since Mayor Junjun took the helm in 2007 – from 800 to 1,500. From a measly P70 million budget, it is now P130 million – one feat that has earned the municipality an award in revenue generation measures.
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On environment care, I recall that through the 1990s, one of the hot topics that flooded newspapers then were the toxic effluents that come from polluting firms in Apalit and nearby towns. In fact, Ding Cervantes still has in his body a slug from a shotgun that was accidentally fired by a security guard of one of the firms being inspected then by the DENR.
I knew of the toxic issues as I was then starting a writing career at the Philippine Information Agency.
Now, it’s all different again in Apalit.
While there may be some companies that need to comply with laws on recycling their industrial wastes, Mayor Junjun would not compromise revenues for safety and health of a town of about 100,000 residents.
One proof of this is the non-renewal of a business permit of one factory that would have added another P3.6 million in their municipal coffers. The town is withholding the permit until the firm has upgraded its anti-pollution facilities.
On a rather communal concern such as domestic or household garbage, Mayor Junjun is serious in leading an example of how towns should dispose of their wastes.
It is funny to note that, again, Apalit – despite its notoriety before in having polluting firms – has edged out San Fernando, Angeles City and Mabalacat. All of these towns have been pointing fingers as to which towns and cities have dumpsites and toxic wastes in recent newspaper accounts.
Has anyone read of mountainous open dumpsites or garbage mess in Apalit lately? I don’t think so.
All because town officials have been pro-active in their waste management programs. Way before Gov. Lilia Pineda has intensified the drive, Apalit has succeeded in its MRFs (Material Recovery Facility).
Just how successful? Already, the town has cut by 50 percent its garbage production with its segregation, while the remaining percentage goes to the Kalangitan Landfill.
Apalit town has only 12 barangays though. But that is no reason to have less garbage. That is no reason too why Mayor Junjun could not stop himself from rewarding P500,000 worth of projects to the cleanest and most upkeep barangay.
He calls it as a “bonus” as he boasts of some barangays already getting their payment of street light bills from the proceeds of recycling of PET bottles and other materials.
Way before the famed no-to-plastic-bags law in Muntinlupa City, Apalit has started a few years ago its campaign against the pesky material that is commonly used in palengkes. I remember attending the “balik-bayong” advocacy of radio and TV host Tintin Bersola at the Apalit Public Market.
But given its possible obsolescence and higher cost, Mayor Junjun has revised the campaign by giving out the so-called “ecobags” – a recyclable bag that are also fashionable.
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The long and short of Apalit’s successes boil down to political will.
As Mayor Junjun puts it, “You may lose some, but you win a lot when you know you are on the right path.” At the rate he is going, the good mayor is winning not only the hearts and minds of Apaliteños. Aside from easily getting a fresh mandate as mayor last May with an unprecedented 6,000-vote margin, the scion of great leader Oscar Sr. is succeeding in his advocacies and campaigns.
He surely has the winning ways.
Source: http://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/opinion/tulabut-apalit-turnaround
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