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| Atty. Jocelle Batapa-Sigue: Tech-Driven Candidate for Mayor of Bacolod in the 21st Century. |
A strong and dedicated champion for information and communications technology (ICT) in the countryside, Jocelle Batapa-Sigue now offers the City of Bacolod a chance for new leadership.
Last October 16 or a day before the last day of filing of certificate of candidacy (COC) for the May 13, 2019 mid-term elections, residents of Bacolod, including close colleagues of Batapa-Sigue were surprised to learn about her decision to run for mayor of Bacolod, challenging incumbent mayor Evelio Leonardia, who is now finishing his fifth term or a total of fifteen years as mayor of Bacolod .
Batapa-Sigue, 45, a lawyer by profession and a professor of law, in a press briefing last October 16, says her candidacy is about giving Bacolod a chance to “win” over status quo and open up to new ideas and solutions to speed up its advancement as one of the highly urbanized cities in the country.
She coins her vision for Bacolod in four letters – JOBS. These stands for jobs and investments, open governance, barangay development, and empowerment and sectoral and citizens participation. She believes that for Bacolod to steadily create jobs and attract investments, a comprehensive set of strategies, including trainings and certifications must be in place to ensure quality talent supply. She believes that good business environment includes efficient traffic management, sound environmental practices, and streamlined government processes, areas were the city is not able to address effectively.
Open governance, for her, entails the use of ICT to reduce red tape, promote transparency and accountability in government, make public services accessible, create an effective data collection to support policy research, and make available online platforms to bring government closer to the people and to effectively respond to citizens’ needs. Known for advocating the creation of smart or digital cities, Batapa-Sigue thinks it is high time for Bacolod to join the ranks of cities developing and utilizing a digital process that aims to provide convenience to its constituents.
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