Edward Hagedorn
| Edward Hagedorn | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Mayor of Puerto Princesa | |
|
In office November 12, 2002 – June 30, 2013 | |
|
In office June 30, 1992 – June 30, 2001 | |
| Personal details | |
| Born |
Edward Solon Hagedorn October 12, 1946 Parañaque, Rizal, Philippines |
| Political party | Liberal Party (2015-present) |
| Spouse(s) | María Elena Marcelo |
| Children |
Eva Christie Elroy John |
| Residence | Puerto Princesa |
| Religion | Roman Catholicism |
Edward Solon Hagedorn (born October 12, 1946) is a Filipino politician and former Mayor of Puerto Princesa City. He was first elected mayor of Puerto Princesa in May 1992, when the city was still capital and a component city of the island province of Palawan, in the Philippines. In 2007, Puerto Princesa was declared a highly urbanized city and became independent of the province. He was a candidate for Senator in 2013 elections but lost.
Hagedorn is best recognized as one of the more successful progressive local leaders of the Philippines with his passion and dedication towards the protection of the environment. Hagedorn’s leadership is directed towards establishing a harmony between the environment and development. The mayor has established the City of Puerto Princesa as a model of eco-tourism for the country.
Early life and career
Edward S. Hagedorn was born in the municipality of Parañaque, then under Rizal Province on October 12, 1946 to Alexander Hagedorn and the former Gliceria Solon. He married Maria Elena Marcelo and the couple have two children, Eva Christie S. Hagedorn and Elroy John S. Hagedorn.
Hagedorn completed his education from St. Andrew's School (Parañaque), San Sebastian College - Recoletos and from the University of the East in the City of Manila.
When Hagedorn was elected as Mayor of Puerto Princesa City in 1992, he also served as an Assemblyman of the Southern Philippines Council for Peace and Development (SPCD), a body created during the term of President Corazon C. Aquino which was tasked to oversee the establishment of an autonomous region for Muslims in Mindanao and it included Palawan island.
He also served simultaneously as mayor and as a Representative of the League of Cities of the Philippines for Region IV and member of National Executive Board of Boy Scout of the Philippines.
Under his leadership, Puerto Princesa was transformed into one of the more famous eco-tourism destinations in the Philippines. The city is also a global model for environment protection, elevating the city into the Hall of Fame as the Philippines “cleanest and greenest” component city and winning several global recognition and awards in the process.
Based on the Philippine Constitution of 1987, Hagedorn was prohibited from running for a third three-year term on January 30, 2001 but after an election recall led by Puerto Princesa’s Barangay leaders against the incumbent mayor who replaced Hagedorn, Victorino Dennis M. Socrates, the Supreme Court of the Philippines on November 12, 2002 issued a landmark decision allowing Hagedorn to run again as mayor of the city.
On September 2005, Hagedorn was appointed by President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo as the “anti-jueteng czar”, charged to oversee the government’s efforts to clamp down on the proliferation of the illegal two-numbers gambling. Hagedorn was given the task of creating a legalized and government form of jueteng called Small Town Lottery or STL
Leadership Initiatives
- Oplan Linis Program (Clean and Green Campaign) - Launched on August 1, 1992, the program aims to sustain cleanliness, beautification, and sanitation in the city through active and continuing partnership among government agencies, non-government organizations, the private sectors, and citizens. The program has earned for Puerto Princesa the coveted label of being the cleanest and greenest city in the Philippines.
- Bantay Puerto Program (Puerto Princesa Watch) - Protect + Rehabilitate + Plan - These are the program’s key management thrusts. Protect what is there, rehabilitate what has been destroyed, and plan for the intelligent utilization of the city’s terrestrial and marine resources. This is the life cycle that the program envisions for the community to achieve sustainable development.
- Comprehensive Housing Program - Puerto Princesa’s vast land area and its rich terrestrial and marine resources have become like magnets that attracted a lot of in-migration from all over the country. They came in droves and squatted in public and private lands whose owners either did not care or know. Majority of them, being fishermen, chose the coastal areas for being closest to their source of income.
- Agriculture Program - Puerto Princesa City is primarily an agricultural economy. It is almost self-sufficient in food, except for a few varieties of vegetables. Metro Manila’s ten million population get their fish and other marine supplies from the city in particular and Palawan in general. To improve the farmer’s quality of life, however, there exists the urgent need to introduce productivity enhancement programs.
- Education Program - To highlight the importance that the city government attaches to education as playing a pivotal role in the city’s future development, Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn launched the City Education Enhancement Program. The project intends to improve the standard of education within the service area of the city government by identifying and prioritizing the establishment of schools, and organizing a continuous training scheme for schoolteachers in the city.
- Health Program – When illness strikes and there is no one to turn to for help, people are tempted to resort to illegal means for remedy. For farmers and fishermen, for example, the seas and the forests become attractive sources of fast buck. To dispel the temptation, the City Government has undertaken effective and efficient health services.
- Infrastructure Program – Under the leadership of Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn, Puerto Princesa witnessed a boom in both horizontal and vertical constructions, implemented with the ultimate goal of boosting the economic development of the city, at the least possible cost.
- Livelihood Program – “Kaunlaran” (Development) or economic development is the last of the three K’s (the first two being “Kalinisan” or cleanliness and “Kapayapaan” or peace and order) that Mayor Hagedorn has promised the people of Puerto Princesa. This is the most difficult and challenging task that the mayor has put before himself but has achieved a degree of relative peace in the city, making it one of the safest destinations in the Philippines.
- Tourism Program - Puerto Princesa City was a place no one really bothered to know, except of course the Puerto Princesans. What little that people knew about Puerto Princesa were mostly conjured images of a not-so-wholesome place like being the abode of prisoners, and where malaria abounds, but Hagedorn has built an image for the city as a place to go for eco tourism, seeing a developing city yet maintains a balance with nature, a city in the forest.
- E-tricycle - On January 19, 2007, Puerto Princesa Mayor Edward S. Hagedorn unveiled the environment-friendly and economical electric-powered “Trikebayan” (which does not emit any noise or carbon monoxide) at the Kapihan sa Sulo forum, Sulo Hotel, Quezon City. The Trikebayan costs only P 48 or $1.20 per day to operate, while a gasoline-powered tricycle operation would cost P 200. Rolly Concepcion, who conceptualized the Trikebayan, said that converting a tricycle engine to electric costs P 68,000. The 36-watt rechargeable battery under the passenger seat can run for 12 hours.[1]
Vision
- “To see Puerto Princesa as model city in sustainable development.”
With the following concepts:
- A park-like city demonstrating balance and harmony between development and environment;
- A center for eco-tours, healthful recreation, applied research on ecology, ecosystem, marine and terrestrial flora and fauna and environmental management;
- A home for disciplined inhabitants who are responsible stewards of the city’s ecological system and resources; their quality of life improved as they enjoy directly or indirectly the bounties of nature and the fruits of their labor; and;
- Its major thoroughfares developed as boulevards, promenades and stretches of tree-lined and coastal highways interspersed with parks and resorts and provided with appropriate facilities for tourism, agriculture, commerce and environment-friendly industries.
In popular culture
- Hagedorn was the subject of a biopic movie titled Hagedorn in which his character was played by actor Fernando Poe Jr. in 1995.
See also
External links
- Official website
- A Lifelong Journey of Dedication and Service
- Visit Puerto Princesa
- Adventure writer Antonio Graceffo writes about Mayor Edward Hagedorn