Quezon City Mayor Herbert Bautista Sunday urged barangay officials to bring the city government services closer to the people by pursuing programs prioritizing concerns for social services and health benefits.

In a dialogue with department heads and city employees, Bautista said the city government will provide tangible and worthy projects that will promote political stability and social and economic development.

“Propelling the city to progress is a shared leadership and I am willing to share this principle adopted by my predecessor in leading Quezon City at its best competitive form, not only regionally, but globally,” Bautista added.

He, however, recognized the value of teamwork to gain progress, stressing that there is a need for the citizenry and local officials to work together to spread the gains of the city’s development to a greater number of people.

Councilor Jaime Borres of the city’s 3rd district asked Bautista and other concerned city hall officials to also prioritize the move to minimize if not prevent corruption in the bidding process at the local government level.

While recognizing the importance of pursuing worthwhile projects, Borres reminded Bautista that a level playing field in local government transactions will also boost the city’s progress and development.

Due to the growing number of complaints, Borres said that he had successfully blacklisted a trading firm from transacting business at city hall for making a mockery of the bidding process in the Quezon City.

“I still believe that the mayor should also concentrate on errant bidders who have no intention of delivering the required services after winning the bidding for certain items at city hall. Their intention is merely to make dives (lowest bid price) and later offer other bidders to deliver the services on their behalf in exchange for a percentage of the project cost,’’ Borres added.