The Development Academy of the Philippines, through its Center for Governance-Local Governance and Development Office, conducted the Local Government Executives and Managers Class (LGEMC) Batch 17-Course 3 featuring a learning session on Strategic Management, highlighted by a knowledge-sharing engagement with Zamboanga City Vice Mayor Beng Climaco, on July 11, 2025, via Zoom Communications.

Vice Mayor Climaco, who served as Zamboanga City’s local chief executive for nine years, shared the city’s best practices in integrating strategic management and systems thinking into local governance. Her administration was recognized for its transformative leadership anchored on inclusive governance, transparency, and accountability.

In her presentation, Vice Mayor Climaco emphasized the importance of aligning local initiatives with national development goals through a strategic approach that advances public service excellence and citizen engagement. Her governance model applied the whole-of-government and whole-of-society frameworks to address multifaceted challenges, focusing on key priorities such as peace and security, economic development, infrastructure, and social services.

She also discussed the implementation of her flagship program “SHE” (Security, Health, Education), and the strategic use of emerging technologies, including AI, to improve service delivery. A notable initiative was the use of barangay-level data and the Community-Based Monitoring System to support participatory planning and data-driven policymaking.

The session fostered a rich exchange of insights, with LGEMC scholars sharing the challenges faced in their respective LGUs and expressing inspiration from Vice Mayor Climaco’s leadership journey and innovative practices.

The event concluded with Vice Mayor Climaco leaving participants with a powerful reminder: “Do good. Consistently.”—a guiding principle that continues to inspire public servants across the country.