Sangguniang Kabataan (Youth Council) Takes Oath

THE MAYOR & SK CHAIRS.

Gensan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. strikes a wacky pose with the Sangguniang Kabataan Chaipersons of the city's 26 Barangays after their oath-taking ceremony on November 28, 2007 at the Lagao Gym. Earlier the mayor briefed them and their councilors on his administration's vision and development strategies while challenging them, as "generals" (term coined for GenSan residents) to be "general solutions" to today's problems. In a few days time, these chairpersons will elect among themselves a president to be their permanent representative at the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

208 Barangay Officials take oath

BARANGAY OFFICIALS MASS OATH-TAKING.

Two-hundred eight newly-elected officials from General Santos City's twenty six barangays take their oath of office before Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. on November 28, 2007 at the Lagao Gym. The mayor proceeded to orient them on his administration's programs and policies, goals and benchmarks based on his 15-year city development strategies or SHEEP Development Agenda to ensure a unified and coordinated approach on each individual barangay's plans for the continuous progress of their turfs.

ACHIEVERS ALL. Gensan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. strikes a happy pose with members of his clan, all newly-elected barangay officials after administering their mass oath-taking ceremony along with 205 others from the city's 26 barangays on the morning of November 28, 2007 at the Lagao Gym. Photo shows (L-R) Brgy. Dadiangas West Councilor Yolando Acharon, the mayor, Barangay Sinawal Councilor Ricardo Acharon, and Barangay Dadiangas West Captain Edgar Acharon.

Mayor Attends Peace Forum

PEACE FORUM. Gensan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. acknowledges the crowd at the opening of the Peace Forum at the Sarangani Capitol Gym on November 26, 2007. The forum is part of the celebration of the Mindanao Week of Peace which is an initiative of the Office of the President under Honorable Jesus Dureza, Secretary of the Peace Process. Photo shows (L-R) General Vicente Luna (Eastern Mindanao Command Chief), Secretary Dureza, Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez, Mayor Acharon and Sarangani Vice-Governor Steve Solon.

SarGen Leaders in Tahuna, North Sulawesi

SARGEN LEADERS IN INDONESIA. Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. and Sarangani Province Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez (1st & 2nd from right) stand in attention during the arrival honors for the Philippine delegation at the Tahuna City Airport in Sangihe Island, North Sulawesi on November 21, 2007. The leaders were in this Indonesian island for trade talks and to witness the culmination of the 3-day joint border patrol exercise between the two countries. Also in photo are (from right) AFP Eastern Mindanao Commander Gen. Cardozo Luna, Chair of the Philippine panel overseeing the border crossing agreement and Regent Winsulan Salindejo, Regent of the Sangihe Islands chain. (avel manansala/foto by edwin espejo)

INDONESIAN DANCE. Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. and Mindanao Economic Development Council Chair Virgilio Leyretana perform the Indonesian welcome dance "Kabasaran" with lady dancers at the arrival program in honor of the Philippine Delegation in Tahuna City, Sangihe Island on November 21, 2007. The mayor was in this Northern Sulawesi territory to witness the culmination of a joint border patrol exercise between the Philippines and Indonesia and for trade talks between Gensan, Sarangani Province and Tahuna. Together with him was Sarangani Governor Miguel Rene Dominguez. (avel manansala/foto by edwin espejo)

McDonald's Donates Reading Kits to local schools

MCDO DONATES READING KITS. McDonalds' Manager-Tainee Nathaniel Atoc (extreme right) looks on as GenSan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. (2nd from right) hands over a sample copy of their Bright Minds Read Kit to City Councilor Richard Atendido and DepEd Supervisor Emerenciana Robin (extreme right) at a turn-over ceremony during the regular prescon moderated by City Assistant Administrator Glennville Gonzales (partly hidden from camera) at the City Mayor's Conference Room on November 20, 2007. These kits will be used by public school teachers as tools in improving the english reading and comprehension skills of their pupils. This endeavor is a project of McDonalds Charities, Inc and the Department of Education in coordination with the City Mayor's Office.

Junior Officials Take Over City Hall

JUNIOR OFFICIALS TAKE OVER CITY HALL. Photo shows Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. (seated) and the Junior Officials tasked to take over the duties of the elected local government leaders during their first day of office at the city hall on November 19, 2007. Selected from more than 75 applicants from various schools in the city, these high school students will perform the basic functions of the mayor, the vice mayor and the councilors for a week. Also in photo are (L-R) Hope Christian School's Ruby Jane Ong, Stephanie Chu, Sharla Billena, Kenn Derik Sy (Junior Vice-Mayor) and Mary Rose Torrijos; Notre Dame of GSC's Dennis Marigon and Eva Cynthia Flores; MSU's Boni Brendi Abuyog (Junior Mayor); Leoncio Enobio, Jr. of GSC National School of Arts and Trade; Trixia Marie Ebol of MSU; Ivan Dimadid of RMMC; Angelica Rose Dellosa of NDDU-IBED and City Youth Affairs Division Chief Elmer Cequiña. Not in photo is Jamie Villamor of Holy Trinity College. This undertaking is an annual project of the YADO which is under the City Mayor's Office.

Mayor Enrolls in Waste Management Course at the UP

WASTE MANAGEMENT COURSE AT UP FOR ACHARON. GenSan City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. (extreme left) during a break at his class on "Toxic & Hazardous Waste Management" at the University of the Philippines Diliman from November 9-12, 2007. This is the first of the four-module training course which the mayor, a licensed civil engineer, enrolled in under the Certificate Program on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management of the UP's National Engineering Center to strenghten his administration's implemention of the city's Integrated Solid Waste and Waste Water Management Plan. With him in the photo are (L-R) Phil. Batteries, Inc.'s Jayme Gonzales, Course Director Dr. Gene Peralta of NEC, Globe Telecom's Beth Tamayo, Team Enery Sual Corp.'s Eric Legarda, Phil. Abatement Systems Specialist Inc.'s Lito Pogon and Carlito Cabanela, also of Team Energy.

For a period of five days early this November, Gen. Santos City Mayor Pedro Acharon, Jr. undertook a training course in the first of a series of modules on Waste Management at the University of the Philippines in Diliman.

This is the Certicate Program on Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management which is a four-module training course conducted by the university through the National Engineering Center (NEC) in coordination with its Department of Chemical Engineering and Environmental Engineering Graduate Program.

Its objective is to build the technical capacity of leaders from the government and private sectors on the key elements of toxic and hazardous waste management for the implementation of RA 6969 or the "Toxic Substances and Hazardous and Nuclear Wastes Control Act".

Mayor Acharon, who is a licensed civil engineer has focused on environment protection as one of his adminstration's flagship missions through his Environmental Governance Project or Eco-Gov2.

This includes his designs on the city's Integrated Solid Waste and Waste Water Management Plan and the Sarangani Bay Protected Seascape Plan which is in partnership with Sarangani Province. An offshoot of these plans is the Sanitary Landfill project in Barangay Sinawal which is in its bidding stage at this point and will be completed in 2009 at the earliest.

The course in UP, according to the mayor, therefore, "will not only equip us with more technical knowledge on how the city should conduct its handling of its waste material but they will also strengthen our networking with capable institutions and agencies which may assist us on matters pertaining to environmental protection and regeneration."

For this first set of module from November 5 to 9, entitled "Toxic and Hazardous Waste Management", Mayor Acharon teamed up with Engr. Nael Cruspero, who heads the City Planning Development Office. Subsequent modules scheduled for next year are: "Chemical Emergency Response and Preparedness"; "Inspection, Compliance and Enforcement"; and "Pollution Prevention".

All of these are under Course Director Dr. Gene Peralta of the National Engineering Center.