3D Christmas decors adorn Lamitan City Hall
COTABATO CITY - Thousands flock around the Lamitan City Hall every night since last week to watch the three-dimension Christmas decorations and lights that adorn the building.
It is something first in the 30-year history of the defunct Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and in the fledging Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao, established only in 2019.
Lamitan City is in Basilan province whose territory also covers Isabela City and 11 other municipalities.
Thousands of local residents watch at nighttime the three-dimension, or shifting images, of the decorations in their city hall, a project of Mayor Roderick Furigay, supported by officials of the more than 40 barangays under his jurisdiction.
Furigay said their commemoration of the 2022 Yuletide Season shall be meaningful owing to their local government unit's having received recently two special awards from different government entities.
The Lamitan City LGU got a 2022 Seal of Good Local Governance (SGLG) award, its fifth in recent years, from the office of Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos, Jr.
The award is premised on efficient handling of funds, good peace, security and environmental protection efforts and pro-poor activities of recipient local government units.
The Lamitan City LGU also received last November the Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, or NDRRMC.
The grant of the Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence to deserving municipal, city and provincial governments is an annual activity of the NDRRMC.
The NDRRMC is composed of representatives from various line agencies, including the Department of National Defense and from the office of President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.
The NDRRMC only grants the Gawad Kalasag Seal of Excellence to LGUs with well-organized calamity and disaster-response and mitigation programs.
“We would not have received these two special citations if not for the extensive community support for all of our LGU’s activities and public service thrusts,” Furigay said Monday.
Furigay said he is thankful to the Army units under the 101st Infantry Brigade and the personnel of the Lamitan City Police Office and the Basilan Provincial Police Office for securing Lamitan City for residents to have a peaceful Yuletide Season.