Wednesday, July 29, 2009

Gloria’s SONA was all about work, says Tony

CONGRESSMAN Antonio Cerilles praised President Gloria Arroyo’s last State of the Nation’s Address (SONA) saying the growth experienced by Mindanao today is the best example of the chief executive’s good work in achieving reforms for the country.

Cerilles, talking over DxCA-Radyo Bagting, Tuesday, said that Arroyo’s SONA was “a full and factual report” of her achievement in transforming Mindanao from being a “land of promises” into a land of progress.

“These developments we have cannot be felt by those in Manila,” the congressman said.

“Generally, Zamboanga del Sur benefitted from PGMA’s term and we are thankful for that,” he added.

Cerilles then made a litany of the SONA projects made by the Arroyo like the paved highways all around Zamboanga Peninsula, which includes the Dapitan-Dakak Road and the Zamboanga West Coast Road, which runs from Gutalac-Baliguian-Siocon-Sirawai.

Cerilles added the completion of rural road network projects all over the region which made travel convenient and transport of farm products to markets easier, like the Malabang, Dobliston-Kapatagan-Molave Road; Monte Alegre-Tukuran Road—linking the two provinces of Lanao to Zambosur.

Cerilles likewise mentioned the Pagadian Airport, which is calendared for completion by September, as reported during the recently concluded 12th Mindanao Super Region (MSR) meeting here.

Another is the making of Pagadian into a regional government seat of Zamboanga Peninsula being one of the most competitive cities of Mindanao.

At present, at least 40 out of the 85 regional offices in Zamboanga City have already transferred to Pagadian and more transfer activities is expected to be fully complied before 2009 ends.

Meanwhile, former Presidential Adviser on the Peace Process and presently Mindanao development in-charge Jesus Dureza said that Mindanao received substantial share of the infrastructure projects implemented during President Arroyo's administration.

Dureza added that Arroyo’s plan of clustering areas in the country into so-called “super regions” and that of Mindanao into an agribusiness area has resulted into the completion of major projects worth P88.19 billion.

“Towards that vision, we made key reforms. Our economic plan centers on putting people first. Higit sa lahat ang layunin ng ating mga patakaran ay tulungan ang masipag na karaniwang Pilipino,” Arroyo said in her recent SONA.

The president summed up that her administration “was able to make a strong economy in a strong fiscal position to withstand political shocks, built new modern infrastructure and completed unfinished ones, put the economy on the fair level, built a sound base for the next generation and safe from environmental degradation and man-made disasters.”

Cerilles then commented: “Ang importante dinha nay gihimo ug naa tay nakita, ilabi na kita dinhi sa Mindanao. Sayon kayo ang paglibak ug pagpangatake pero ang pangutana, unsay imong programa kung ikaw ang naa dinha?”

“Dili ta maminaw sa mga hiwi nga kritiko nga sige lang og panaway,” he concluded.

REPORT BY MICHAEL MEDINA