Tag: Navotas

Flavors of NCR 2024 was a blast of delicacies, discoveries and fun

Flavors of NCR 2024 was a blast of delicacies, discoveries and fun

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Recently Muntinlupa City hosted the 2024 edition of the Flavors of NCR food festival at the Filinvest City Central Park in Alabang and I personally witnessed the formal opening ceremony which involved many high-level officials and special guests. A lot of people visited the food festival on April 19 and 20 which added to the credibility of Filinvest City Central Park as a suitable open-air venue for special events.

For the newcomers reading this, Flavors of NCR is a special event presented by the Association of Tourism Officers – NCR which collaborated with the City Government of Muntinlupa for this year’s event. It is a showcase of unique cuisine found in the sixteen cities and one municipality of the National Capital Region (NCR). The local government units (LGUs) that participated include: Caloocan, Las Piñas, Makati, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Manila, Marikina, Muntinlupa, Navotas, Parañaque, Pasay, Pasig, Quezon City, San Juan, Taguig, Valenzuela, and the Municipality of Pateros.

Event launch

The ribbon cutting led by high officials that include Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano (3rd from left), Muntinlupa Mayor Ruffy Biazon (3rd from right) and Department of Tourism-NCR Regional Director Sharlene Zabala-Batin (2nd from left) to name a few.

The opening ceremony of Flavors of NCR 2024 was attended by Muntinlupa City Mayor Ruffy Biazon, Taguig City Mayor Lani Cayetano, Department of Tourism-NCR Regional Director Sharlene Zabala-Batin, Association of Tourism Officers-NCR headed by Manila City Tourism chief Charlie Dungo, and Pasay City chief of staff Peter Eric Pardo. Also present were Muntinlupa Vice Mayor Temy Simundac and Muntinlupa City Council Raul Corro.

“We are delighted to host the Flavors of NCR,” Mayor Biazon stated during his welcome remarks to all the guests. “(We acknowledge) the presence of other cities here so that their products will be showcased and we are proud to have you here.”

Biazon stressed that hosting the Flavors of NCR opens up opportunities for Metro Manila’s LGUs and their respective food-and-beverage stakeholders access to the Calabarzon region composed of Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon with a collective population of over sixteen million people.

It should be noted that the Alabang area of Muntinlupa is a popular destination for Calabarzon residents as well as those from nearby cities who enjoy shopping and recreational activities during the weekend. That being said, Flavors of NCR fits nicely with the weekend vibe at Filinvest City.

After the formal ribbon-cutting was done, Flavors of NCR 2024 officially opened and a lot of people and photographers followed Biazon and the guests visit the different food booths of each city.

Each LGU and their best

I visited and explored the designated areas (also referred to as “booths”) of each LGU during the food festival. Each area had a different style of interiors and layouts of food, drinks and other products being offered to visitors. There were also chairs and tables present for those who need to seat down and eat. Check out my raw YouTube videos plus pictures below…

Native delicacies on display for sale at the Las Piñas City booth.
Burger patties being cooked at the Mandaluyong City area.
Delicious halo-halo from Aling Consuelo Halo-Halo sa Ugbo. This was sold at P100 each.
Marikina City had four sellers that attracted customers during the food festival.
Drinks, dessert and other stuff offered to customers at the Las Piñas City booth.

Flavors of NCR was indeed a true showcase of what local businesses per LGU has to offer. Manila had halo-halo sold by Aling Consuelo Halo-Halo Sa Ugbo, Las Piñas City had Bea’s Home of Quality Kakanin and Other Native Delicacies selling native delights, Quezon City had Papa Diddi’s Handcrafted Ice Cream for those wanting something cold and sweet, Mandaluyong City had Ben’s Burjer for customers who love hot burgers, Marikina City had Mang Ding’s BBQ and Nanay Ipang’s Everlasting, and so on.

As expected, the variety of food and drinks were really great. Offered to customers were chicken, beef, pork, siomai, barbeque, puto, bibingka, pansit, siopao, fried chicken, roasted pig, pastries, cakes, halo-halo and ice cream to name some. There were also non-food products being sold such as bags and accessories in some booths.

The Muntinlupa City area.
Sea food and other food items being sold at the Parañaque City booth.
Fried chicken being prepared for customers.
The best of Muntinlupa City offered to customers.
Food and bags for sale inside the booth of Malabon City.

It was really nice to see these small businesses represent their locality and offered their best products to visitors at Filinvest City Central Park. Adding zest to the food festival were some performances by different bands from the cities of NCR. There also was a modern dance activity that drew in lots of visitors which added to the customers at the food festival.

Conclusion

The 2024 edition of Flavors of NCR at Filinvest City Central Park was indeed a nice showcase of what each LGU had to offer for those who love food and drinks. In addition, this festival really emphasized unity between the local governments of NCR and it also promoted local tourism. The festival also attracted some residents of Filinvest City’s residential towers (plus others from Ayala Alabang, Palms Pointe Village and other residential communities) and some employees (who worked at offices near the park) whose shifts ended.

In the perspective of tourism, this event really boosted Filinvest City Central Park’s status as a venue for special events or activities. To date, the said park continues to be an attraction for visitors and already it has been used by organizers of sports events and musical events.

This was taken during Saturday night.

The successful staging of Flavors of NCR could inspire food festival organizers to have their events held within Filinvest City in the future.

Let me end this post by asking you readers: Were you able to attend Flavors of NCR at the central park in Filinvest City? If you did, how was your experience? Do you wish to see another food festival to be held at Filinvest City Central Park soon?

You may answer in the comments below. If you prefer to answer privately, you may do so by sending me a direct message online.

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Muntinlupa City is among 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awardees

Muntinlupa City is among 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awardees

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Muntinlupa City is among 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awardees

Today the City Government of Muntinlupa announced that they have been feted by the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) as one of the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) awardees for its excellent delivery of public service. This latest development continues to show why Muntinlupa is a standout city among South Metro Manila’s cities.

MuntiSGLG2K19
DILG Sec. Eduardo Año turns-over the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance award to Mayor Jaime Fresnedi during an awarding ceremony at Manila Hotel last November 4. SGLG is the DILG’s progressive assessment and reward system that gives LGUs distinction for their remarkable performance across various assessment areas in governance. Also attending the program were Muntinlupa City Administrator Engr. Allan Cachuela and DILG Muntinlupa Field Office chief Bernadette Ferino. (source – Muntinlupa PIO)

The prestigious SGLG award was received by Mayor Jaime Fresnedi from DILG Sec. Eduardo Año during the awarding ceremony held at the Manila Hotel yesterday. With the mayor were City Administrator Engr. Allan Cachuela and DILG Muntinlupa Field Office chief Bernadette Ferino.

Despite having a more stringent assessment criteria for the award, the City of Muntinlupa has passed “all-in” seven assessment areas in governance namely: Financial Administration; Disaster Preparedness; Social Protection; Peace and Order; Business Friendliness and Competitiveness; Environmental Protection; and Tourism Culture and the Arts.

To put things in perspective, Muntinlupa City was among the three hundred and eighty local government units (LGU) in the country conferred with the coveted award in governance. In the National Capital Region or NCR, only eight LGUs received this year’s Seal including the cities of Caloocan, Malabon, Mandaluyong, Navotas, Pasay, Quezon City, and San Juan.

Fresnedi thanked the DILG for its recognition of Muntinlupa’s commitment in improving local administration and service delivery for Muntinlupeños.

“We are honored to receive this award as it validates our efforts towards local governance reforms and development. This recognition is an outcome of the collective efforts of dedicated city officials and employees who tirelessly worked in facilitating a transparent, caring, and accountable government for the people,” the mayor said.

As an incentive, 2019 SGLG recipients are set to receive Performance Challenge Fund (PCF) to finance local development projects and capacity development assistance from the DILG.

To be clear, SGLG is the DILG’s progressive assessment and reward system that gives LGUs distinction for their remarkable performance across various pillars. This year’s award is the second SGLG award conferred to Muntinlupa City after receiving the same recognition in 2015.

Furthermore, Muntinlupa City was also awarded with three major awards from the Department of Health (DOH) last November 4 at the Metro Manila Center for Health Development’s “Gabi ng Parangal” held in Crowne Plaza Manila.

The DOH conferred the City Government with Best in Rabies Prevention and Control Program, Best in National Voluntary Blood Services Program, and Plaque of Appreciation for the implementation of the Universal Health Care.

Previously, Muntinlupa became the only South Metro Manila city to make the Top 10 of the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized Cities when the results of the 2019 Cities and Municipalities Competitiveness Index (CMCI) were revealed.

Parañaque City Government officials silent

More about the NCR city governments and the DILG’s organizing of the 2019 Seal of Good Local Governance awards, I reached out to my contacts at the City Government of Parañaque and asked what was their reaction about their city NOT receiving the prestigious SGLG award. They did not reply at all today.

Those same Parañaque City officials did not reply to my previous inquiry regarding their city’s failure to make the Top 10 of the Most Competitive Highly Urbanized Cities of the entire Philippines as per the results of the 2019 CMCI.

I guess it’s more comfortable for them to remain silent than answering tough questions about competition with other city governments. Now I’ve got to check with one other South Metro Manila city regarding the SGLG awards.

 

 

 

DILG: No local government unit fully compliant with road clearing operations yet.

DILG: No local government unit fully compliant with road clearing operations yet.

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In response to a certain city government’s claim that it has joined other cities on being 100% compliant with the national government order to clear roads of obstructions, the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) stated on September 13 that no local government unit (LGU) yet has been declared as fully compliant.

“We have not made any determination on which LGUs are fully compliant because the assessment of all LGUs will come after the 60-day deadline which will be on September 29, 2019,” DILG spokesperson and Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said in a statement.

Malaya made the clarification in response to the claim made by the City Government of Makati that it has joined the cities of Marikina, Malabon, Navotas, Pasay, San Juan, Valenzuela and the municipality of Pateros, which earlier reports said are 100-percent compliant with the campaign to clear roads of obstructions, ahead of the 60-day deadline imposed by the DILG.

Citing the department’s Memorandum Circular No. 121-2019, Undersecretary Malaya said full compliance with the order is not based on road clearing operations alone.

Malaya specified that in order for an LGU to be declared as fully compliant, it should enact or revisit ordinances that are related to road clearing, the banning of illegal construction, preparing an inventory of roads within their jurisdiction, implementing displacement strategies and the like.

He added that compliance reports on the matter submitted by LGUs to the DILG regional offices and its Bureau of Local Government Supervision (BLGS) are still subject to validation.

Speaking of validation with regards to South Metro Manila, the City Government of Las Piñas claimed on its September 13, 2019 Facebook page post that the DILG “has validated the 100% completion of the clearing operations weeks ahead of the scheduled deadline on September 29,” in relation to DILG Undersecretary RJ Echiverri’s very recent visit and inspection of the result of the local clearing operation which involved the presence of Mayor Imelda “Mel” Aguilar and other city officials.

Excerpt from the City Government of Las Piñas Facebook page post:

The ocular inspection validated the report of Mayor Mel Aguilar and the city government’s Task Force Kaayusan. DILG has validated the 100% completion of the clearing operations weeks ahead of the scheduled deadline on September 29.

Undersecretary Echiverri gave positive comments about the result of the clearing operations in Las Piñas.

Now if only the DILG itself will react to the Facebook claim of the City Government of Las Piñas.

If anything comes up, it will be posted here.