Batangas town mayor pushes ‘new politics’ tack
Newly elected Taal, Batangas, Mayor Nene Bainto pressed for open and people-centered governance after she issued her first executive order as the town’s youngest elected mayor.
Bainto’s Executive Order No. 1 was titled “Social Contract for an Open and People-Centered Governance in the Municipality of Taal” and urged the town’s leaders to make transparency and accountability the new standard in the municipality.
The 33-year-old Bainto, the town’s youngest and first lawyer-mayor, was a former director in Malacañang Palace and has been exposed to and involved in the Marcos administration’s key transparency reforms and its priority projects.
The town has always been a small town (current population: 61,460), but has also been an affluent society even before the Spanish colonial period. “It doesn’t mean that a small town should also have a small vision,” the mayor said.
“The possibilities and potential of Taal are so huge and we believe that through proper and straight governance we can progress immensely.”
Like the City of Manila, Taal has a documented history dating to the 16th century and remains the home of a number of historically significant and illustrious families, like the Agoncillos, Apacibles, Dioknos and Ilustres, to name a few. Their extant residences and those of many others are known as “heritage homes.”
Aside from her “social contract,” Bainto said she would also focus on an “anti-epal policy” that prohibits the use of the names and images of government officials in connection with government-funded projects. She said that such prohibition of politicians’ images and names is a mandate that resonates the most among the people of Taal, both on social media and in her personal encounters, particularly with younger people.
