Samsam bares 8-point agenda for Talisay City

CEBU, Philippines — Talisay City Mayor Gerald Anthony “Samsam” Gullas Jr. delivered his speech on the occasion of his first 100 days of service being the chief executive of Talisay City yesterday at the City Sports Complex.

During his speech, he presented his eight-point agenda to the Talisaynons, department heads and visitors like Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, Provincial Board Member Yolanda Daan, Representative Eduardo Gullas and officials from the first district.

Gullas admitted that a role of a mayor is not that easy saying what he has done can never be achieved by one man alone.

“All I can say is being a mayor is a lot of work, it requires constant coordination meetings, occasions where you feel like you’re stuck between a rock and hard place, numerous decision making which at the end of the day affects the lives of plenty, I can go on and on with clichés,” he said.

His agenda starts with the education, where Gullas emphasized the importance of knowledge.

He said he is pushing for an education that helps a Filipino family to have a better life as they could be employed and have better salaries.

Gullas is grateful as the Talisay City College (TCC) now gives a free tuition fee for the deserving students.

A “cream of the crop program” is one of his goals to submit deserving student to a university in Cebu which offers different specialty of courses that a student may choose, he said.

The city will fund the student for free.

“Like one student nga nag top sa math so maayo siya himuon nga engineer so adto ta sa school nga naay daghan nag top sa maong kurso,” Gullas said.

Gullas assured that University of the Visayas (UV) will not be included in the program to prevent conflict of interest.

Second, Gullas wanted to bring back the brand that Talisay City is a place to visit because of its historical sites, beach and the must-try lechon baboy.

“Actually sa south trail of the Suroy-Suroy Sugbo, last destination ang Talisay, so we have to be ready to bring this brand again to Talisay,” the young mayor pointed out.

Gullas also revealed his “big plan” for Barangay Poblacion, where a boardwalk and stalls for lechoneros where family can bond will rise.

Third, Gullas gave his 100 percent support to efforts on disaster preparedness.

He said “warm bodies” are needed to form part of the Talisay Rescue Emergency Team (TREAT) led by Alvin Santillana.

Fourth, Gullas said he wants to empower the barangay officials so he will be giving them P1 million in funds for them to use for the welfare of the constituents.

Agriculture and environment is the fifth on his agenda, giving importance to the fisherfolks and the farmers.

A mini market will be established at the city hall every 15th and 30th day of the month where vendors can sell their products.

Sixth on the list is sports and wellness, in which Gullas said he will be more supportive being a sportsman.

Aftercare on the war on drugs and the Aksyon Agad are the last agenda of mayor Gullas but the latter clarified that it’s not the least he could say.

With the support of the fight of illegal drugs, Gullas said his administration focuses on the aftercare program for the drug dependents with the leadership of Dr. Rey Cesar Bautista.

Gullas extended his gratitude to his department heads and the people who made his 100 days successful.

Jonathan “Joy” Tumulak, city traffic czar, was applauded for transforming City of Talisay-Traffic Operation Development Authority (CT-TODA) to be more professional.

A memorandum of agreement between Talisay District Hospital and Hi-Precision and the city government to give free laboratories and hospitalization was also entered.

The speech of Gullas was followed by a groundbreaking of the Talisay City Liberation Park project.  JMD (FREEMAN)