Councilor Richard B. Diolazo, on his second term in the 8th Sangguniang Panlungsod, is the chairman of the committees on Communications and Information Technology, Trade, Commerce, and Industry, and Senior Citizens.
He drew inspiration in taking on a career in public service, likewise in business, from his father, the late Gil Diolazo, a prominent civic and business leader, and former chairman of Barangay Poblacion, who established the Diolazo Printing Press located on F. Tanedo, and the Diolazo General Merchandize, situated at the corner of Juan Luna and Rizal streets.
Following his graduation from the University of the East in Manila, where he took up B.S. Business Administration, major in Management, his father had asked him to run the family-owned Diolazo General Merchandize.
The soft-spoken councilor started his public service career in Barangay Poblacion as First Councilor. In 2004, he took over as punong barangay after then chairman, now Councilor Vladimir S. Rodriguez, had resigned as the latter aspired for a post in the City Council. In 2007, Diolazo was elected barangay chairman of Poblacion, and in 2010 he ran for city councilor. He was re-elected in 2016 and in 2019.
Councilor Diolazo authored significant ordinances, notably: 1) The establishment of the Tarlac City Legislative E-Library; 2) Free admission for senior citizens in theaters and other cultural/leisure/amusement establishments; 3) Recognition and one-time cash reward to bona fide centenarians and declaring the first Monday of October every year as “Centenarian Day,” and 4) Granting P500 year-end benefits to all senior citizens of Tarlac City.
He co-authored several ordinances, among them, 1) Establishing the Animal Bite Treatment Center; 2) Declaring as unlawful the wearing of closed helmets, bonnets, masks or any gadget and/or accoutrement that tend to prevent the identification of the drivers and passengers of motorcycles, tricycles, bicycles, pedicabs and/or any type of motorized vehicle, and regulating the speed limit of any vehicle plying within the city proper; 3) Strengthening the anti-hospital deposit law, and 4) Providing for a Comprehensive Children’s Welfare Code and Family Support Systems in the City of Tarlac.