Marikina’s transformation from a murky, low-profile town into a multi-awarded city has become a model for many striving local government units.

Despite having won five awards in the Gawad Galing Pook over the years for its innovation in local governance, the city still flows with ideas to become more responsive to the needs of its citizenry.

Marikina’s system of governance is anchored on three core values: discipline, good taste and excellence. The city government consistently imparts these values to its people, putting emphasis on high standards of integrity, good conduct and excellence.

In recent years, the city has been investing heavily on improving the quality of education. Under its educational program, public elementary and high school students are provided free tuition and school supplies.

Marikina City also recently issued an ordinance that gives out privilege cards to qualified, non-delinquent real property taxpayers. Good tax-paying citizens are granted discounted rates on fees of selected government services. The program is a creative way of informing citizens of their privileges and encouraging prompt and correct payment of taxes.

The same principles of cleanliness and orderliness were applied to public market as well. The city’s public market was considered the “Cleanest and Healthiest Market” by various government agencies. It has its own Clean Food Laboratory where all kinds of food are randomly tested for safety.

The city’s award-winning programs are the following:

Save the Marikina River (1995 awardeee): As leadership changed, the city’s destiny shifted. By cleaning up the Marikina River and developing its shore, a turnabout in the city’s image paved the way for renewed public support for the local government programs.

Politika sa Bangketa (1997 awardee): The city leadership believes that people should be treated equally, but they must also behave decently. The program Politika sa Bangketa (Discipline on the Sidewalks) involved the removal of obstructions on sidewalks, including illegal vendors. Despite initial resistance to the program, the effort paid off as it resulted in pedestrian-friendly sidewalks and hassle-free roadways.

The program jumpstarted order and discipline as a way of life for the people of Marikina City.

Squatter-free Marikina (1998 awardee): To address the urban poor issue, the city government created the Settlements Office tasked mainly to provide decent shelter to the underprivileged. One of its services is the community mortgage program (CMP) originatorship, a financing program of the National Home Mortgage Finance Corporation, which helps residents in depressed areas own the lots they occupy. The squatter-free concept is linked to Marikina City’s zoning program to prevent illegal structures in the city.

Barangay Talyer (1998 awardee): The program provided people access to simple carpentry tools and equipment needed for construction, repair and maintenance. Ordinary folks such as tricycle drivers simply go to the Barangay Talyer to borrow tools to repair their motorcycles.

Quick Response (1999 awardee): Delivery of basic services is another aspect that the city is quick to address. If America has Rescue 911, Marikina has its own Rescue 161 – an emergency response hotline for medical, fire and police assistance. It guarantees a response time of five minutes immediately after a phone call. Marikina City also has its own blood station for emergencies. Its city engineering department has the most complete set of equipment and has close to 600 personnel for calamities and rescue operations.