Victorias, led by Mayor Abelardo Bantug III, and other officials, welcomed the SubayBAYANI Awards 2025 National Validation Team as the city recently underwent monitoring and validation for its project, the “Construction of a Two-Storey Evacuation Center/Multipurpose Building”.
Victorias is the only local government unit in Negros Occidental that qualified for the national validation of the prestigious award that aims to highlight LGUs nationwide that embody resilience, innovation, and meaningful public service through projects and initiatives creating lasting impacts in their communities, the city said Sept. 23.
Funded under the 2022 Local Government Support Fund-Financial Assistance to LGUs, the state-of-the-art center, worth P55 million, was blessed and inaugurated March 14 last year, led by then mayor and now 3rd District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez.
Benitez had said the center will be a fully-equipped disaster operations hub with a telephone communication system to augment centralized emergency hotlines, advanced surveillance technology, and various disaster management equipment, among others.
The team of validators, meanwhile, was led by DILG Region III assistant regional director Jay Timbreza, Office of Project Development Services program manager Rogelio Ocampo, DILG-NIR OIC-PDMU chief Engr. Yanibee Noynay, and Gawad Kalinga Inc. area coordinator Kyle Adrianne Amor, along with LGOO VII Maria Nove Mejica, Engr. Mark Hel Gabiota, and Engr. Chuirstine May Tijing of the DILG Negros Occidental Provincial Office.
Before proceeding to the project site at Sidlak Victorias Global City in Barangay XIII, the validators paid a courtesy call on Mayor Bantug, followed by an initial interview and an on-site inspection of the evacuation center/multi-purpose building and the City’s Sidlak Victorias Media Center.
Present during the validation were local officials and department heads, including DILG Officer LGOO VI Michelle Acosta Arriola, VCDRRM officer Rodolfo Retirado III, City Engineer Mary Jean Majaducon, VCIO OIC Remia Pabalinas, and CEED head Joy Famini, among others. ||
