The team will be welcomed by Tanauan Mayor Roque A. Tiu and will be briefed by the Municipal Implementing Team on the update of the replication being conducted in the different barangays of the municipality.

The GTZ Team is expected to propose the next step to take by the Municipal Implementing Team which will eventually led to the crafting of the Municipal Development Plan through the integration of the LUB-BDP of the 54 barangays of the town.

Comprising the Municipal Implementing Team are the selected personnel from the different departments, namely: Dayday dela Cruz, MPDO; Jun Mesias, MAO; Alan Yu, MAO; Luz Valeriano, MBO; Charlene Binasahan, MSWDO; Cheche Orit, MEO; Rodelle Maceda, MTO; Yuban Boco, MPDO; Jerome Fabre, MO; with MAO Niceforo Liberato of LRED and MPDC Cecille Ocado of DRM. The Sangguniang Bayan Members headed by Vice Mayor Jun Pagayanan serve as the Barangay Concilliary District in Charge.

As of now, the Municipal Implementing Team which was capacitated by GTZ has already replicated the planning process in more than 30 of the 54 barangays of the municipality and is expected to complete the process before the middle part of next year. Mayor Tiu is rallying the members of the team to finish and complete the process so that the integration could be started immediately.

Mayor Tiu is contemplating of coming up with the Municipal Development Plan before the end of his term in 2010 and leave the same as his legacy to the people of Tanauan. It will definitely help his successor in pursuing the development programs without going through the planning process anymore but merely validate the priority programs and projects enumerated in the development plan.

This is a dream come true for Mayor Tiu as it was his desire way back in 1992 when he was first elected Mayor of the town but the cost then of having a development plan was very expensive considering that the local government has to tap the services of consultants whose fees were prohibitive. When the GTZ proposed the process and partly financed the project, Mayor Tiu immediately accepted it and put up the counterpart funds to seal the agreement for GTZ and the LGU to jointly undertake the process.

Through the Land-Use Based Development Planning the barangay people are able to identify not only the use of the land in their barangay but they are also able to determine the geohazards which are present in the barangay. Hence, they are able to plan ahead so that they will be able to mitigate if not fully prevent the damage of disasters.

Through this system of Development Planning, the barangays are able to determine which portion of the barangay is safe for residential locations and which parts are the best for productivity and what priority projects the barangay must undertake. The people will even know which lot to buy and what purpose the land is best used for.

The best thing, however, is that through this kind of planning, the barangay people are empowered to plan for themselves and undertaking projects which the barangays will finance and with support from the other government entities.