Alaminos2015Strategic Development Plan
for the City of Alaminos, Pangasinan

Introduction

Alaminos City is in a race against time, towards destiny. As a new city at the heart of Western Pangasinan, it is struggling against the bane of all urbanizing areas - congestion, population escalation, criminality, solid wastes and inadequate facilities, infrastructure and services. And, with an economy reliant on low-output agriculture and fishery but propelled by the merchandise trading sector, poverty and marginalization threaten to divide, negating even the gains that commerce brings. The once nurturing environment, particularly the sea, fell prey to desperate measures in past years. Illegal fishing destroyed a good portion of the city’s fishing grounds, threatening even the ecosystem of the famed Hundred Islands. Tourism had been stagnant, unable to spur a rebirth of sorts for the city.

But the new Alaminos City is leaving no stone unturned in reversing the tide of events. The new administration is re-writing the city’s development books, making a determined bid to prevent confusion, crime, helplessness and environmental abuse from permanently setting in. The new Alaminos is a model of sustainable, equitable progress that is already beginning to happen. The city is doing this with a combination of bold and visionary leadership, hands on, no nonsense management styles, a development paradigm emphasizing growth with equity, a common strategic direction, and a new found optimism among its people.

The development paradigm of the city prescribes the kind of development that the city should follow. Growth with equity, or progress originating from and benefiting broader segments, competitiveness of all segments, resource management and sustainable use, the provision of basic services and social safety nets for the vulnerable and family centeredness form the core principles of this development paradigm.

The vision of the new city reflects its development paradigm and the most powerful aspirations of its people. It paints a picture of peace and progress, of uplifted citizens sharing in development, and of a vibrant, competitive local economy serving as a living showcase of sustainable, family centered progress with equity.

The 10 – Point Agenda of governance of the new city administration translates the development paradigm and vision into action areas to be pursued within 1000 days.

Vision Statement

We envision healthy, well educated and god loving Alaminians in a peaceful, developed and globally competitive city that serves as a living showcase of progress anchored on ecologically sensitive tourism, modern but sustainable agriculture and broad based commerce and industry.
OR
We envision Alaminos City to be a living showcase of progress anchored on ecologically sensitive tourism, modern but sustainable agriculture and broad based commerce and industry, with healthy, well educated and god loving Alaminians enjoying fully the fruits of peace and development with equity.
OR
WE ENVISION A PEACEFUL AND PROGRESSIVE CITY WITH WELL EDUCATED, HEALTHY AND GOD LOVING CITIZENS SHARING FULLY IN DEVELOPMENT, PROPELLED BY A VIBRANT LOCAL ECONOMY ANCHORED ON GLOBALLY COMPETITIVE ECO-ADVENTURE TOURISM, AGRICULTURE, COMMERCE AND LIGHT INDUSTRY, SERVING AS THE HUB OF WESTERN PANGASINAN AND AS A LIVING SHOWCASE OF A FAITH BASED, FAMILY CENTERED, ENVIRONMENTALLY SENSITIVE PROGRESS WITH EQUITY.

Mission Statement

THE CITY GOVERNMENT OF ALAMINOS AND ITS PARTNERS UNDERTAKE TO BUILD A MODEL CITY, FOCUSING ON THE FOLLOWING AREAS OF WORK:

• Development and promotion of the agriculture, tourism and light industrial sectors to improve incomes and create employment and self-employment opportunities
• Ensuring public peace, order and safety
• Development and expansion of needed infrastructure and utilities
• Improving the quality and access of Alaminians to education and health and providing safety nets to the vulnerable
• Management of coastal resources
• Strengthening faith, moral values and family centeredness
• Management of population distribution and congestion
• Institutionalizing good governance

Roles

IN UNDERTAKING THE ABOVE MISSION, THE PARTNERS SHALL ASSUMME THE FOLLOWING ROLES:

• Servant Leaders
• Facilitators and Coordinators
• Direct Implementers
• Monitors and Evaluators
• Capability Builders
• Institution Builders
• Protectors and Prosecutors
• Regulators

Development Concerns & Challenges

The key development concerns and challenges confronting the city of Alaminos serve as the jump – off point in developing the strategic plan. These concerns and challenges were surfaced in the multi-stakeholder strategic planning workshop and substantiated by an analysis of the city’s development profile .

There were 6 priority concerns identified during the planning workshop. These were: 1) low income levels and poverty 2) criminality and vices 3) limited employment or self-employment 4) inadequate physical and utilities infrastructure 5) poor quality of education and 6) increasing solid waste management burden.

Aside from these top six, there were seven other concerns that the city’s stakeholders believe should be addressed by the strategic plan. These are 7) a threatened natural environment 8) weak health status 9) cultural erosion 10) vulnerable women and children and delinquent youth 11) insufficiency in local supply of most food items 12) rapid population growth and, congestion.

These concerns are described below.

Low Income Levels
Criminality and Vices
Limited Employment Or Self-Employment Opportunities
Inadequate Physical and Utilities Infrastructure
Poor Quality of Education
Increasing Solid Waste Management and Sanitation Burden
Threatened Natural Environment
Weak Health Status
Cultural Erosion
Vulnerable Women and Children and Delinquent Youth
Food Security and Sufficiency
Population Growth and Congestion

The development challenges confronting the city are clear from the above described current reality. Programs and projects need to be developed to directly respond to these challenges.

Improving incomes and creating opportunities for employment and self-employment are central challenges facing the city. These can be achieved by developing the key productive sectors of agriculture and tourism.

• Increasing the productivity of agriculture, providing livelihood and stimulating entrepreneurial activities among the poor and middle class, who are mostly in agriculture can broaden the base of development and create dramatic but sustainable source of growth – from gainful and productive activities involving a majority of the city’s residents.


• Reviving tourism can bring immediate and widespread benefits – from gainful employment for the city’s labor force to increased income for many of the city’s service providers, big and small. The Hundred Islands and Alaminos City need to be repositioned and re-packaged in the tourism market and aggressively re-marketed, along with long term development of tourism infrastructure and facilities.

Ensuring public peace, order and safety is another key challenge. Tourism revival, businesZSs growth and sense of well being of residents depend on a stable peace and order situation.

• A combination of improved police capability and visibility, aggressive prosecution and partnering with the communities in curbing criminality and vices is needed.

Infrastructure development is a must if the city expects to be highly urbanized.

• Water, power, transportation, solid waste management and wastewater treatment facilities and infrastructure need to be built. Improving the quality and access to basic social services and providing safety nets to the vulnerable need to be done to minimize the negative effects of urbanization and create a more caring, humane society with a citizenry better equipped for life.


• Adequate and modern educational facilities need to be set up to create a more competitive human resource base. Primary health services, particularly nutrition need to be strengthened. The diagnostic capabilities of the city for new killer diseases also need to be enhanced. Crisis intervention for the abused and rehabilitation for the dis-abled need to be provided.

Coastal resources management is also an urgent challenge to sustain the life giving capacity of the sea.

• Protecting, conserving and rehabilitating the coastal zones and their resources needs to be pursued relentlessly in partnership with coastal barangays.

Strengthening faith, moral values and family centeredness is also a challenge in the face of rising criminality and vices.

Population growth needs to be managed along with congestion in key sections of the city.

• This can be done by democratizing economic opportunities all the way to the barangay level to prevent crowding out at city centers for jobs and residency. Population management programs are also needed.
  

Finally, instituting good governance to build credibility and ensure the cooperation of the people and various stakeholders in the task of building a new Alaminos City is a basic development task and challenge.

Principles of Good Governance

IN THE PURSUIT OF THE VISION AND MISSION FOR ALAMINOS 2015, THE FOLLOWING SHALL SERVE AS GUIDING PRINCIPLES:

• Accountability
• Transparency
• Self-Discipline
• Responsibility

Goals

     The vision and mission of Alaminos 2015 are translated into the following concrete development goals for the next 10 years:

1. Agriculture is fully developed and farm productivity and income potentials are achieved or exceeded
2. Tourism is fully revived providing gainful employment and revenues for large segments of the city
3. A critical mass of enterprises across barangays are developed and viable
4. Public safety, peace and order are assured at all times
5. The city’s physical infrastructure and facilities are adequate and highly modernized, enhancing the service capability, safety and aesthetic appeal of the city
6. Education is modernized and the performance of students and teachers exceed regional averages
7. Health status, access to needed health facilities and overall well being of the residents are significantly improved
8. Coastal resources are protected, conserved and or rehabilitated and providing gainful livelihood to majority of coastal community residents
9. Positive values are internalized and demonstrated in practice by Alaminians
10. The solid and liquid wastes of the city are minimized and properly managed, and cleanliness and sanitation are maintained at all times

View Key Result Areas and Performance Targets

Strategies

View by goal:

1. Agriculture is fully developed and farm productivity and income potentials are achieved or exceeded
2. Tourism is fully revived providing gainful employment and revenues for large segments of the city
3. A critical mass of enterprises across barangays are developed and viable
4. Public safety, peace and order are assured at all times
5. The city’s physical infrastructure and facilities are adequate and highly modernized, enhancing the service capability, safety and aesthetic appeal of the city
6. Education is modernized and the performance of students and teachers exceed regional averages
7. Health status, access to needed health facilities and overall well being of the residents are significantly improved
8. Coastal resources are protected, conserved and or rehabilitated and providing gainful livelihood to majority of coastal community residents
9. Positive values are internalized and demonstrated in practice by Alaminians
10. The solid and liquid wastes of the city are minimized and properly managed, and cleanliness and sanitation are maintained at all times

Programs and Projects

     The following table lists the programs and projects identified for the different goals of Alaminos 2015. The identification of programs and projects was guided by the strategies discussed in the previous sections. The programs represent the general thrusts of actions per goal. The projects are the different components of the programs per goal that need to be highlighted or implemented separately from overall program management. Program components that are not singled out as separate projects are to be implemented by the overall program management team.

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View Programs and Projects [Summary by Goal]