Warm greetings to all Bicolano and Bicolana Sanggunian Secretaries!

Welcome to
the Province of Albay!

I would like to congratulate you on your continuing legislative education as dynamic

and proactive secretaries here in the region. No one can ever deny the importance
of your role in effective legislation. You serve as the backbone of policymaking. You
keep things in order and upright. I would like to personally thank you for your hard
work, perseverance and excellence, especially our Albayano and Albayana
secretaries.

I am with you in your quest to sharpen your skills and talents. Indeed if we stop
learning, we stop growing. We truly need your expertise in making our legislative
service, work for the best of our constituents. I am certain that these new learnings
will redound to the general welfare of all the municipalities and cities you represent.

As the presiding officer of the provincial board of Albay, I have an enduring

commitment to preserve and protect the independence of the provincial legislature,
even as I will endeavour to assure a working consensus with the provincial executive.
I dream for a model Sanggunian that vows to “do justice to every man”. This is my
guiding standard of service. I am sure that without the help of the Secretariat, this will
not come to pass. My dear Secretaries, you are with us in the forefront in solving the
many challenges and issues in our communities through effective, progressive and
responsive legislation.

Public accountability comes with our role as public servants. In the provincial board,
we endeavour to listen more, to consult better, to engage the constituents and work
with all the sectors in the society. We believe in the power of civil society to make a
difference. We are co-actors in nation-building. Good governance is shared
governance. Recently, we just passed an Ordinance in the SPA to build strong
partnership with civil society organizations. With your help, my dear colleagues, our
Sanggunian will always be SANGGUNIAN or an institution that cares to listen.
In the areas of public safety and disaster management, the Province of Albay is
always here to assist and serve as your reliable comrade. We have created the Albay
Public Safety and Emergency Management Office as the first Local Disaster Risk
Management Office in the country, the team set out to establish good DRRM
practices in the province. We have institutionalized an early warning system, a
communication protocol, pre-emptive evacuation procedures, and post-disaster
damage assessment and needs analysis in order to protect and empower the people
of Albay in times of disaster. We have always provided legislative support to to our
award-winning team and model for best practices in disaster risk management
among LGUs nationwide. Again, your legislative work as Secretariat has been
instrumental in making this happen.

I would like to express my sincerest thanks for making me a part of this activity.
Please do know that you have found an ally in me and a partner to make our local
Sanggunians model Sanggunians in the entire country. I hope that you will have a
productive time of learning on Procurement Law and Local Governance. Your unity
and camaraderie will also be key to effective legislation. May this seminar be an
avenue to share best practices of the SP and SB you all represent. As the proverb
says, Iron sharpens iron. Your sharpness and sharpening will always serve as
brilliant tools to a better and brighter Bicol Region!