When asked what one expects from a city leader, the answers may vary. Some prioritise health, education, and welfare, while others focus on infrastructure, disaster management, and related issues. Good news for San Fernandinos, under the leadership of Mayor Vilma Balle-Caluag, these needs are met.
In the area of health, the Fernandino Dialysis Centre was established within the first 100 days of Mayor Caluag’s administration. This facility provides free treatment for local people with chronic kidney disease. It has 25 dialysis machines that can accommodate up to 50 patients daily. It also has its own water treatment and reprocessing room for the operation of a dialysis centre. According to Mayor Caluag, the facility was established through a private-public partnership programme with the Luzon Medical System (building the structure, supplying dialysis machines and other equipment) and PrimeWater (providing free water supply to the facility). “It’s not an issue for us that the LGU will not earn revenue from this endeavour because what’s important for me is that the unfortunate [people] are given the service they deserve,” she said.
In terms of social services, Mayor Caluag enlivens the spirit of inclusivity. The city’s social services programme recorded, within her first 100-days of administration, a total of 466 indigent Fernandinos received medical assistance, 411 with burial, and 51 with funeral assistance, while 17 assistive devices, particularly hearing aids and wheelchairs, were given to Persons with Disabilities (CSFP City Information Office). Mayor Caluag also launched the Fernandino Kayabe Kard, an innovative programme to deliver public services, including but not limited to the distribution of medical and financial assistance to Fernandinos. Through this initiative, local people can access medicines and other medical services from the City Health Office, rural health units, and barangay health centres. “This offers a cost-effective and easier way of cascading the assistance from the city government to Fernandinos,” Mayor Caluag said.
As for education, under the guidance of Mayor Caluag, the city government distributed laptops to teachers from the 20 smallest public schools in the city. “This will help our educators become equipped with the demands of the current education system, including the use of technology in conducting face-to-face and online classes to Fernandino students,” Mayor Caluag said.
What she has done speaks loudly and clearly and ultimately earned her the “Most Influential Filipina Woman in the World” award, granted by the Foundation for Filipina Women’s Network (FWN). During the awarding ceremony, Caluag was introduced as “𝘔𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳 𝘝𝘪𝘭𝘮𝘢 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘴𝘦𝘳𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘮 𝘢𝘴 𝘚𝘢𝘯 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰’𝘴 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘮𝘢𝘺𝘰𝘳. 𝘏𝘦𝘳 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘩𝘪𝘱 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘷𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘪𝘵𝘺’𝘴 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘤𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘭𝘵𝘩 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦, 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘵𝘺, 𝘴𝘮𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘺𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮𝘴, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘴𝘵 𝘪𝘮𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺, 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘍𝘦𝘳𝘯𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘰𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘰 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯, 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘥𝘦𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳.” FWN further described the recognition conferred on Caluag stating, “𝘛𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘢𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘍𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘢 𝘸𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘯 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘢𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘨𝘪𝘤 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘶𝘮𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵𝘭𝘺 𝘪𝘯𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘥 𝘱𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘦𝘯𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘶𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴’ 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘴 𝘣𝘺 𝘴𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸𝘭𝘦𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘪𝘯 𝘥𝘳𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘨𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘤𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘴 𝘣𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴, 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘺, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘵𝘺. 𝘚𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘴 𝘢 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘩𝘰𝘴𝘦 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘴𝘪𝘰𝘯-𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘱𝘵 𝘢 𝘮𝘰𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘰𝘶𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘭𝘶𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦.”
Sources:
https://www.rappler.com/philippines/elections/vilma-caluag-pampanga-capital-first-female-mayor-2022/
https://centralluzon.politiko.com.ph/2025/08/05/mayor-caluag-thanks-dot-for-conferring-fbse-award-to-san-fernando-city/daily-feed/
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/city-government-honors-tourism-stakeholders
https://centralluzon.politiko.com.ph/2023/10/09/san-fernando-mayor-caluag-gets-national-outstanding-mayor-of-the-year-award/daily-feed/
https://mirror.pia.gov.ph/news/2022/10/13/caluag-eyes-san-fernando-as-global-smart-city
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/caluag-named-most-influential-filipina-woman-in-the-world
https://www.league.ph/items-24/san-fernando%2C-pampanga-mayor-vilma-caluag
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/caluag-cites-inclusive-growth-during-soca
https://punto.com.ph/csfp-ranks-2nd-among-ph-model-cities-municipalities/
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/teachers-get-laptops-from-san-fernando-lgu
https://pampanganewsnow.com/city-college-now-more-inclusive-after-amending-admission-standards/
https://centralluzon.politiko.com.ph/2024/01/05/san-fernando-city-govt-turns-over-livelihood-starter-kits-to-over-100-beneficiaries/daily-feed/
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/csf-dialysis-center-inaugurated
https://www.sunstar.com.ph/pampanga/local-news/csf-launches-kayabe-kard-portal-program
https://pia.gov.ph/news/csfp-launches-kayabe-kard-online-portal/
Photos:
Wikipedia
