Mayor Benjamin Magalong served a long and distinguished career with the Philippine Constabulary and the Philippine National Police for 38 years before being elected as the Mayor of Baguio City in 2019. Since his election, Mayor Magalong has been busy moving forward his 15-point agenda for the city, which includes efficient disaster management, responsible tourism, revitalizing the environment, speeding up government action, and innovating peace and order, among others. His experience as a top police investigator gave Baguio a much needed headstart during the COVID-19 pandemic when he led the formulation of an effective COVID-19 contact tracing strategy in March 2020, which is currently lauded as a best practice in the country. As a result, Mayor Magalong was appointed as the contact tracing czar to help with the Philippine government’s COVID-19 pandemic response. He specializes in Intelligence, Investigation, Operations and Training, Counter Terrorism, Crisis Negotiations, Anti- drug and Anti- money Laundering Operations and Command management, and has received numerous awards and merit medals for his various combat, law enforcement, and public service accomplishments.