In just a little over l0 years, it has changed its rallying catchphrase eight times.

A government slogan, just like the corporate version, must tell its constituents in a few words what to expect from their leaders in terms of service.

And if the motto is believable, the people will embrace what it attempts to convey as the truth.

As a result of this obviously confused communication thrust, Quezon City’s 2.4 million residents are not only amused but curtly dismiss their city government’s thematic service motto as meaningless.

This is unfortunate. Many of the Capitol City’s inhabitants do realize how their elected officials strive to do their best in delivering the basic services they, as their constituents, rightly deserve.

One thing that residents are expecting is for their leaders at City Hall to settle for an intelligent catchphrase that is credible and, thus, a cajoling adage for the inhabitants to believe in.

As of now, apparently, the outputs coming from brainstorming sessions at the Mayor’s Office on how to telegraph the city’s mission of service continues to puzzle its constituents.

As a backgrounder, the maze of slogans brewed by Quezon City’s bright boys started sometime in l993 when it harped on the epigram. The City of Stars. Presumably, in reference to the presence of many movie and entertainment personalities who were elected to the City Council.

After a while, the bright boys suddenly realize that in associating a showbiz motto with local governance, many of their constituents would not take them seriously. And so that was discarded.

Then followed, The Smile City, accented by a stylized graphics of a smiling mouth. It stayed for quite sometime, until 2001 when a new administration came in.

What the new City Hall administrators initially cooked up was, The Cultural City. To buttress the claim, officials closed a good portion of Visayas Avenue and had the street splattered with big illustrations supposedly executed by noted painters.

When the road was reopened, the bizarre sketches quickly turned into dirty smudges, more so when the rains melted away the inferior paint used. And so, out with that cultural thing.

Because the city gets over R2.6 billion annually in taxes and fees from 45,000 business establishments located in the city, and other local sources, Quezon City branded itself, The Business Friendly City, in 2003. It was favored by many SMEs. Bit it led some insiders at City Hall into thinking that the catchphrase was petty and trivial. The thinkers wanted something that was in-step with 2lst century technology.

And what was this but the current by-word — information and computer technology? Why not the ICT Capital of the Philippines? Not really a bad idea. So that phrase now appears in billboards and streamers, of course, with the smiling face of the good mayor, dotting the city’s major thoroughfares.

However, many observers have noted that what makes ICT in the city is its Eastwood area in Libis district. And whatever it is that transforms the place the "in" thing in information technology was enhanced by private capital, and not through the any initiative of the city administration. (Some few years back, City Hall ranted and fumed when it could not collect local taxes from private businesses there which invoked exemption by their being located in a free trade zone.)

Well, just in case the ICT theme is discarded, there is a pullback choice. A councilor came up with another bright idea early this month – The Health Care and Welfare Capital of Metro Manila.

Instantly, senior citizens of the city protested. Those health benefits have yet to reach their person in the form of city-funded services. The slogan definitely does not look credible.

So, what is there left but to highlight what its treasury has been boosting aboutfor a few years now – the Richest City in the Philippines?

Not too fast, says the City of Manila. We have that distinction now, the City by the Pasig protests.

Well, there are limitless possibilities. City Hall is now conducting a search of exceptional feminine pulchritude – Mutya ng Quezon City beauty contest they call it, with contenders who are bonafide residents. The winner will be proclaimed in August in time for the celebration of its foundation day.

Come to think of it, after the beauty queen shall have been named, City Hall whiz-kids may ride on with the competition’s popularity. And what is there to prevent them from proclaiming enthusiastically Quezon City as "Ang Mutya ng Pilipinas"!