VISION AND MISSION

One screen will be the Vision and Mission of the Municipality of Valencia. Just by a glance,
you can already tell the path taken by its administration, and expectedly, by its people as well.
Valencia, as I have, mentioned, began gearing its goals toward the promotion of tourism. Thus,
with that said, tourism also plays an important part in its outlook and struggle toward
development. To support its strategy of placing itself in the center of tourism throughout the
province, it also takes into account the implementation of programs that, in a sense, would still
capture the beauty of its developmental history and retain its roots. In its mission, the
municipality still gives emphasis on its topographic and agricultural advantage.

With this sense of direction, our group later now aim to explore the different functions of
Valencia’s government organization, dealing with the different offices that are contained within
its current structure to determine their various practices and the lapses that may be manifested
in the processes that they undergo.

*Topography and economy is being discussed since these are the major factors that distinguishes Valencia
from the municipalities and cities within the province.

MUNICIPAL BUDGET OFFICE (1)

As mentioned previously, the law mandates the formation of a Local Finance Committee within
each LGUs throughout the country. In this committee, one can find the Municipal Planning and
Development Office, the Municipal Budget Office, and Municipal Treasurer’s Office (with the
aid of the Municipal Accountant’s Office). Such committee works to project future income and
recommend levels of expenditures that are within the boundaries of the municipality’s monetary
resource.

Breaking down the members that compose it, we can also further determine what such members
do as an aid to Valencia’s LGU. The first is the Municipal Budget Office.

When we say budget, we often think of determining that proper management and allocation of
finances through planning. For our study and as emphasized in Section 314 of the Local
Government Code, a budget is defined as a mix of estimated income and total apportionment
covering expenditures and capital outlays.

How budgeting works from bottom up in the organizational structure. The process usually
begins with the submission of budget proposals by the different departments/offices. These
budgets are then classified as either economic, social, or general services.
MUNICIPAL BUDGET OFFICE (2)

The work of the Municipal Budget Office begins with the gathering of the office-level budgets
and summarizing them into one after determining their viability. The said office shall submit
reports alongside the Treasurer’s Office and the Local Finance Committee. And it is only after
these series of approval can the Local Chief Executive prepare the executive budget. However,
this budget will only take full effect on the start of the succeeding year. On screen, you can see
also the summary of the roles or duties provided by law for the head of the Municipal Budget
Office.

MUNICIPAL TREASURER’S OFFICE (1)

The Municipal Treasurer is an unusual position within the LGU. In comparison to the other
officers, the Municipal Treasurer holds a certain connection with the executive as the former is
given power through a recommendation. In the selection of officers, a list of three (3) possible
candidates is submitted by the Local Chief Executive to the national level. It is the Secretary of
Finance who gives the last review. Consequently, this situation places the office under
administrative supervision.

MUNICIPAL TREASURER’S OFFICE (2)

The duties of the Treasurer are again provided by law. Within such provisions lies the power
that is delegated by the taxing authority—the power to collect tax but not to make assessments.
The municipal head, then, delegates the authority further toward the different barangay chiefs
who are held responsible for collecting the people’s community taxes. As discussed, all
proposals for disbursements of monetary funds are reviewed and approved by the Municipal
Treasurer’s Office and only upon approval of the executive can such disposal of the
government’s money be made possible. Naturally, this disbursement of cash still undergoes
evaluations by random officials, as discussed previously.

The utilization of funds of the LGU of Valencia is a crucial matter in the function of a treasurer.
Without proper management of the funds, a collapse in the government is not impossible. Thus,
what is expected most from the Treasurer’s Office is the management of all current and
projected inflows and outflows of funds.
MUNICIPAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE (1)

The Law is what provides the need for a Municipal Planning and Development Committee, just
as it has done so for most of the succeeding offices which will be presented later on. Upon
creation, the Office automatically forms part of both the Local Technical Committee and the
Local Finance Committee. In the former committee, the MPDO is tasked with providing
assistance in anything related to local prequalification, biddings, and awards while in the latter,
it merely serves as an aid in reviewing the municipality’s income and expenditures in
formulating the budget based on current and future developmental plans.

In simple definition though, the main task of the Municipal Planning and Development Office
is to gather program/project ideas from other offices and reviewing them for any financial or
technical concerns. The Office is the one working to assure the implementation of the programs
that highly benefit the town in its efforts to develop further. In a way, it can be seen as a bridge
that connects offices together to pave a path for coordination among the various LGU
departments.

MUNICIPAL PLANNING AND DEVELOPMENT OFFICE

The MPDO is also the engine that drives the LGU to work and yield progress through the
Comprehensive Development Plan (CDP) that the Office formulates. This plan covers a period
of six years and contains the programs that the municipality aims to finish or start in line with
its vision and mission. Therefore, prior to this formation, the Office sees to it that programs and
projects submitted for approval by the different offices, in a way, must help in promoting the
town’s tourism. This, of course, does not mean that only tourism-related projects are approved.
The mandatory services such as social welfare and the like are also incorporated within the
CDP.

To sum it up, when we talk about the MPDO, we should see the Office not as a mere Office that
accepts or rejects developmental plans. Rather, we should look at the Office as the means that
enables the entire government system to function as one.
MPDO (GAPS)

The MPDO is the one responsible for linking public service departments to those that handle
the finances and the budget. With such crucial role within the system, the MPDO also connects
directly to the higher executive and legislative branches that hold the power to determine what
programs will take precedence over the others. Effective communication and coordination are
two factors, therefore, that must be present but in the exercise of these, it is when most conflicts
of interests arise.

First of the problem is the misalignment of ideologies and priorities from the bottom and up
across the chain of command within Valencia. For instance, Valencia, throughout the many
offices, experiences shortage of qualified workforce. It depends mostly on temporary workers
on job orders who may or may not have sufficient experience in the offices they are assigned
to. With this comes the need to compete for a permanent position somehow and ultimately the
loss of the cooperation that is supposed to be promoted within the work environment.

To address this issue, the most likely solution is to conduct training programs that focuses on
building teamwork and professionalism. This, however, is usually unaccounted for in the budget
created beforehand. Therefore, not only does personal conflicts affect the functioning of the
MPDO but also that of the financial offices as well.

MPDO (GAPS)

Another issue is the confusion of roles across the government organization. A situation like this
often occurs when offices submit projects outside the scope of their authority. An example we
can provide is the case of the Waterworks office. This office, as reported by the MPDO head,
often mistakes its duty as that of the Engineering Office. It submits ideas on construction of
better waterworks system when and in fact it’d task is only the management of the waterworks
system. All construction and mechanical jobs belong to the Municipal Engineering Office.

Despite knowing this though, there also have been circumstances wherein the Engineering
Office waives its right to claim responsibility for the construction or development of the
waterworks system, in apprehension to the great accountability that goes along with the project.
Power here is delegated while still being limited. The Engineering Office should exercise its
power to the fullest and answer for the consequences of it responsibilities whereas the
waterworks that is given limited power over matters should learn to act within its boundaries to
avoid conflicts.
MPDO (GAPS)

The last concern that the MPDO faces is the inclusion of political matters within the professional
environment. It is a given that most elective officials sitting in the higher positions within the
government would want to build good reputation. However, there are times when politics
hinders the effective actions of the MPDO. A situation is that which concerns the citizens. Some
often directly report to the administration to request for the building of roads within their owned
parcel of land and officials, wanting to please people as much as possible, succumb to such
requests. Politics is then taken advantage of by the citizens, asking for more road construction
projects and additional public utilities which as of current may not be of great importance. Some
even use the government to raise the value of their land through public improvements. And
despite the MPDO knowing the faults within the system, the chain of command prevails and
thus, the office have little to none a say in the matter. Yes, the office strives to be professional
and reliable in its work but as long as politics come into play, such aim remains intangible.

FINANCE COMMITTEE (GAPS)