POLANGUI, Albay – Mayor Raymond Adrian Salceda of this town has assured his HEART 4S program that has propelled the impressive transformation of his municipality over the last several years, will be the same strategy he will use to push the growth of Albay’s 3rd Congressional District, if elected in the upcoming May 12 elections.
Mayor Salceda also sits as president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Albay Chapter. He is the son of Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, who ends his term as Congressman in June and is now running for Albay governor, a position he held from 2007 to 2016.
HEART stands for H-Health, E-Education, A-Agriculture, R-Rural Infrastructure, and T-Tourism, Trade and Transportation; while 4S stands for Social Services, Senior Citizens and Solo Parents, Small and Micro Enterprises, and Sports and Youth Development.
Mayor Salceda is following the footsteps of his father, Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, who also ends his chairmanship of the strategic House Ways and Means Committee in June. Both Salcedas now lead surveys of Pulse Asia and SWS in the province.
In a media interview over the weekend, Mayor Salceda explained that his HEART 4S development plan focuses, among others, on health for all ages, health of the communities, and all health needs.
“We strived hard and Polangui became the first town in the country to have a Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Care Center with preventive health care programs, such as promotion of healthful habits and diets, vaccinations, hygiene, preventing communicable diseases, and innovative approaches to address mental health issues in the community,” he stressed.
He added that Education for All is also a foremost objective of his program, to provide everyone a universal access to quality education, such as the Polangui Community College with general education program, TESDA certifiable skills, Bachelor of Public Administration Program, Criminology Course with a Philippine College of Criminology Rinconada Campus, and new facilities and buildings.
Mayor Salceda said his other vision is to lift Albay’s third district as an agro-industrial area with training centers, Farm and Fisheries Consolidation Program, and enable residents to avail of the DA’s Agri-Industrial Business Corridor Programs.
The younger Salceda also actively espouses a sustained ‘Edible Landscaping sa Barangay Program’ and regular agri-fairs, and land consolidation and share service facilities that are supported by rural infrastructures which are considered as roads to agro-industrial and rural development.
He pointed out that his HEART 4S has a strong program for the elderly and solo parents such as free TESDA training and certifications; free farming courses in the LGUs’ Agricultural Training Institute; seniors-at-work program for partner firms that will entitle them to discounts on local business taxes for hiring senior citizens; discounts at partner establishments; home or farmstead RPT amnesty and discounts on prompt payments; and ‘Hatid-Gamot-at-Ayuda’ program.
A strong supporter of the Magna Carta for Solo Parents, Salceda pushes the establishment of Barangay and Municipal Solo Parents’ Desks in LGUs and related agencies, provision of discounts in partner establishments, counseling and legal services, and additional parental benefits.
