ILOILO CITY — The municipal mayors of Iloilo province have been urged to boost the promotion of their respective towns’ best practices and achievements.

The new set of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) – Iloilo Chapter officers took their oath before Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. in a hotel in this city’s Molo district on Thursday afternoon.

Rosario Mediatrix Fernandez, elected LMP-Iloilo president and San Enrique town mayor, urged her fellow mayors to step up in spreading the good news to the province.

“We want to spread the information of what our municipalities have achieved and accomplished if we have best practices, (because) there seemed to be no proper documentation,” she said in an interview.

Fernandez proposed to have an online directory of the municipalities that can be used by all the mayors.

She has checked the tourism offices of each municipality and observed that only tourism sites are being promoted.

“I think that is one of the initiatives of the LMP under my leadership as president, to put together the data that will be a sort of directory of the mayors and the municipalities,” she said.

According to her, municipalities in Iloilo have bagged various awards but have not been properly publicized.

Anilao town, for instance, has been awarded the best tourism event of the Association of Tourism Officers of the Philippines – Department of Tourism (ATOP-DOT) in 2018 for its Banaag Festival.

Fernandez said other municipalities had been given the Seal of Good Local Governance of the Department of the Interior and Local Government, among other awards and recognitions, but have not been publicized or written about. The online directory can also be used by the media, she said.

“These are part of the achievement(s) of the province and we want to organize and document our contribution to the progress of our municipalities. With the help of the mayors, I know we could go far in our efforts, make useful initiatives, and learn with this batch (of LMP-Iloilo),” she said.

Jett Rojas of Ajuy was elected LMP-Iloilo vice president; Geefre Alonsabe of Alimodian as secretary; Nathalie Ann Debunque of Anilao as treasurer; Francis Amboy as auditor; and Jaimee Esmeralda of Igbaras as public relations officer.

Fernandez asked the new set of LMP-Iloilo to work together to achieve progress in the province.

“We will transcend political colors and unite and support each other as one LMP for the success of the organization and towards the success of the province,” he said.

Iloilo province has 42 towns and one component city.