Calapan City Mayor Paulino Salvador C. Leachon has joined this year’s  Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in New Delhi, India.

Leachon was among the 150 “next generation leaders” from 30 countries in the Asia Pacific region to participate in the summit which carried the theme “Worlds Apart Together: Shared Values for an Asia-Pacific Community.”

been named recently among the 150 next generation leaders from 30 countries in the Asia Pacific region to participate in the Asia Society’s sixth annual Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit in New Delhi, India from November 18 to 20, 2011.

The diversity of representation—from business, government, academia, media, civil society, and the arts—brings a wide range of perspectives to the discussions, which explored issues such as developing a sustainable energy policy for Asia, impact of corruption on the region’s development.

They also discussed whether food security should take precedence over civil rights in the region.

The Asia Society’s Asia 21 Young Leaders Summit is part of a larger initiative designed to help emerging leaders from across the region to develop common approaches to meet its shared challenges, organizers said.

“The Asia 21 young leaders represent the future of the Asia-Pacific region. The work that this incredible community of leaders is doing today and will do in the future is laying a strong foundation for regional collaboration for decades to come,” said Asia Society executive vice president Jamie Metzl.

Leachon is the National Vice Chairman of the League of Cities of the Philippines where he also serves as the focal person for the Local Disaster Risk Reduction Management. He is the man behind the cultural transformation of Calapan City, which, under his leadership as mayor, was recognized by the Asian Institute of Management in 2008 as one of the Most Competitive Cities of the Philippines.

Calapan City has also been promoted from a 4th Class City in 2007 to a 2nd Class City in 2010, on account of its innovations in public service, modernization programs, increased revenue collection, and overall economic improvement.

Last September, Calapan City was adjudged as one of the 12 Most Business-Friendly Cities in the Philippines.

The successful Oplan Sandbag in 2005, when the city was hit by severe flooding, was Leachon’s brainchild as City Administrator and Operations Head of the City Disaster Coordinating Council. Leachon then was able to mobilize 35,000 volunteers to make sandbags and construct a sand dike along the river banks.

More than .5 million bags were produced and almost a kilometer of sand dike was constructed. Not only did it save the city from flood waters, but it also saved P62-M worth of reconstruction, which only took 10 days of rebuilding instead of two years.

Leachon juggled odd jobs as taxi driver and fastfood chain crew before he became a full- fledged lawyer and eventually a public servant in a position of immense national influence.