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Treñas, Nava cited for urban leadership

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas and Guimaras Gov. Rahman Nava were given the Urban Leadership Achievement Awards for their 'exemplary display of leadership that has profound and lasting impact on the quality of life in the community.'

The plaques recognizing Treñas and Nava were handed to them by Lisa Cavicchia, International Project Manager of the Canadian Urban Institute (CUI), during the awards ceremony of the Urban Leadership Award on December 14 at the Iloilo Grand Hotel.

Treñas, who is also chair of the Metropolitan Iloilo Development Council (MIDC), was honored for his unwavering support on the value of inter-local government cooperation by leading the MIDC to become one of the Philippines' new models of urban governance.

Nava, for his part, was cited for promoting sustainability in Guimaras. Proof of his support is the inclusion of the published case study on Guimaras' Integrated Solid Waste Management Project in the book 'Innovative Communities: People-Centred Approaches to Environmental Management in the Asia Pacific Region.'

The book, published by the United Nations University, illustrates the concept of community innovation and its role and impact in promoting sustainability. It describes how Guimaras are adopting innovative methods to address complex and unpredictable environmental problems and promote sustainable development.

The plaques for Treñas and Nava consist of artworks by Bill Reid, who has been described as 'one of Canada's greatest artists of the 20th century.' Reid is a goldsmith-turned-sculptor, carver and writer. Cavicchia brought them from Toronto where CUI is based.

'Bill Reid was the pivotal force in introducing to the world the great art traditions of the indigenous people of the Northwest Coast of North America,' says the website of the Bill Reid Foundation (www.billreidfoundation.org).

'His legacies include infusing that tradition with modern ideas and forms of expression, influencing emerging artists, and building lasting bridges between First Nations and other peoples,' it added. Born in 1920, Reid died in 1998.

The awards ceremony marked the culmination of the Canada-Philippines Partnership Program for Good Urban Governance (CPPPGUG), which CUI implements from 2001 to 2006 and funded by the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA).

CUI is a Toronto-based non-profit organization dedicated to providing solutions to important issues that has an impact on the quality of life in urban areas and communicating those solutions to a wide audience through a variety of media.

For over 10 years, CUI has been working in Western Visayas in supporting the country's continued thrust towards decentralization of power to local governments and empowerment of communities in local decision-making as set forth in the Local Government Code of 1991.