|
      YES, SOUTHERN LEYTE DESERVES THE BEST! |
|
REACHING OUT, LINKING UP: SOUTHERN LEYTE SURGING AHEAD INTO THE NEXT MILLENNIUM (A Statement Report prepared and issued by the Honorable Aniceto G. Saludo, Jr.at the end of the First Regular Session of Eleventh Congress on 03 June 1999)
Introductory Statement As I have stated in my "First 100 Days Report", there were several "firsts" that we have done which brought goodwill to the people of Southern Leyte despite the short period I have had then as your Lone District Representative in the Halls of Congress. That period saw a number of significant accomplishments that we can be proud of. It also broadened my knowledge and sharpened my skills as a neophyte legislator championing the interests of our constituents who have been deprived long and hard of the basic services and quality local governance being enjoyed by other provinces. This is not to cast judgment on any one. I am and will only state the facts on the problems and the situation that we are in and offer solutions that are doable. I still maintain that we do not need any grandiose plans for Southern Leyte. What we sorely need are people who are competent and dedicated to work for the attainment of our clear and simple vision of sustainable development for our children and the next generation to enjoy. In most of my public discourses, I have always challenged my listeners to aim for the best, work hard and practice discipline so that success and progress are both achieved. Human resource, to my mind, is the best asset we could have and must develop. Modesty aside, these have been the hallmark of my career starting as a private practitioner of the legal profession and now as a public servant. I have mentioned these to you to better appreciate the performance we have done for our people. I have anchored my development and legislative agenda on the transformation of Southern Leytenos from a struggling work force living below the poverty threshold into a community of entrepreneurs with capacities and competence to own and develop their own resources. I have envisioned Southern Leyte as a place in which people live in harmony with nature and the environment, a center of culture and the arts, a business location for investors, a bastion for youth and sports excellence, and a destination for both domestic and foreign tourists. With your support, these can be done. If this may take beyond my term, so be it. But we have to start. And start this now. This vision is my guide as I perform my duties at the House of Representatives
and in functions where my presence is required by virtue of the positions I hold in a
great number of Committees I was elected into. I have pledged to you that I will always
hold in good graces the mandate you have given me as I try hard and best to bring honor
and prestige to "the once obscure province of Southern Leyte". Together, we
shall bring back the pride and the glory of Southern Leyte. What Bugs Southern Leyte? There is no denying that since Southern Leyte was carved from the former empire
province of Leyte, we have been at the shorter end of any socio-economic package intended
for the region. While our neighboring provinces continue to develop, we wallow in poverty
and underdevelopment. Our resource base is not optimally utilized. If ever, it is
exploited in wanton disrespect of sound environmental practices. There is no clear-cut
policy as to how our productive resources are to be developed and the corresponding
benefits shared and dispersed. Poor Agricultural Sector It does not take a scholar to point out how low our agricultural output is. Not only do we have the lowest agricultural production, we also have the fewest crops grown in the area compared to other provinces. Yet we could easily read the huge numbers in land areas which are either underutilized or not utilized at all. This situation is aggravated by the absence of a livestock production center that could augment crop production. We can only imagine the millions of pesos and employment that can be generated once these areas are planted to suitable high value crops that yield high output and income for our farmers and growers. Hence, the flagship agenda of President Joseph Ejercito Estrada and Agriculture
Secretary Edgardo J. Angara dubbed as the Food Security Program fits perfectly as a medium
designed to address this specific problem in our area. Lack of Gainful Employment Even our trade and commerce remain at the tail-end of any socio-economic data
in the region. Southern Leyte continues to experience depletion of quality human resources
too. Our people go elsewhere to eke out a better living for their families. They leave
behind their children and oft-times this physical separation leads to family breakups,
which turns into a social problem. Had there been jobs available in the province, we could
have been spared from some of these problems. Absence of Functioning Infrastructure In the course of my regular travel doing consultative meetings with our
constituents, the dilapidated – if there is one – infrastructure like roads and
bridges badly need an overhaul. The state of our road network is a shame that we all need
to improve. The vital transportation and telecommunication facilities are likewise
noticeably lacking. These have discouraged potential investors to invest in Southern
Leyte. These poor infrastructures and the absence of other vital facilities have
contributed significantly to our poor agricultural output and very slow economic growth.
Incidence of Graft and Corruption Added to these are the age-old problems of graft and corruption. Reports have placed the losses up to a staggering amount of 10% to 40% of the project cost. This amount, if recovered, is enough to fund another equally important project. This situation, if we have to move ahead, has to be remedied. We have to put a stop to these leakage’s least our meager funds go down the drain. We could continue citing other problems but that is not the only point of this
report. We have to look at the brighter side as well. What Have We Done In Our 1st Year? In my earlier report, you have been informed of our humble accomplishments as a
first-term legislator. Despite being neophyte, I was elected to some of the most powerful
Committees, namely: Rules, Appropriation, Agriculture, Energy, and Natural Resources,
among others. I was designated by the Speaker to be his representative in the Committee on
Ethics. I was also informed of my forthcoming assumption as the Chair of the Special
Committee on the 20 Depressed Provinces and the Vice Chair of the Ad Hoc Committee on
Overseas Filipino Workers. Privilege Speech on Limasawa As I have promised, I delivered a Privilege Speech on the Floor of the House of Representatives during its Plenary Session on March 22, 1999. It was a passionate speech on "The First Holy Mass in Limasawa as the Embodiment of our Faith and Reaffirmation of History". It was an occasion for the people of Southern Leyte to celebrate as we have articulated and put in the records of Congress the facts surrounding the first Holy Mass in Limasawa on March 31, 1521. Our intensive research work and preparations paid off handsomely as we received congratulatory messages from colleagues in Congress and other observers after we put forward and defended our positions well during the interpellation period. Our efforts to stress the historical significance of Limasawa as the site of
the first Holy Mass in the Philippines was also given a big boost as the official
representatives of Mexico, Spain and Portugal had pledged to help us develop Limasawa as a
historical and tourist destination. This statement of support augurs well our vision of
transforming our small but history-laden island of Limasawa into a tourist attraction and
eventually a dollar-earning town. Bills and Resolutions Filed and/or Co-Authored Among the Bills and Resolutions I have filed and/or co-authored are either measures of local interest or of national significance. Being deliberated in their respective Committees are local bills such as the cityhood of Maasin (HB 7201), creation of the first university in Southern Leyte with different campuses, utilizing the facilities of the present state colleges and other schools in the province (HB 6885), conversion of national high schools in Sogod (HB 5087) and San Juan (HB 2314), and creation and/or construction of local projects as requested by various local government units. I have also initiated and/or supported measures of national and/or international significance on such concerns as agricultural modernization, environmental protection, scholarships and quality education, cheaper and sustainable energy services, improved foreign relations with other countries, rights of women and other victims of violence and harassment, stable banking and business climate, sound government and corporate practices, and local government autonomy. I have participated in a great number of public hearings and Committee meetings which resulted fine-tuning of specific provisions before these bills are passed into law. It is also noteworthy to mention our inclusion in the highly exclusive Bicameral Committee composed of a few and select members of the Senate and House of Representatives which drafted the Clean Air Act of 1999, a landmark legislation under the Estrada Administration. To be a member of this body, usually reserved for senior legislators, is an honor for us especially during our first year in office. I have, likewise, supported the views of Speaker Manuel Villar, Jr. and some of
my colleagues on the need to review the status of existing laws which have yet to be
implemented due to lack of funds and to pass only measures which are of utmost importance
and relevance. I will pursue our legislative agenda with equal vigor especially those that
will impact on the lives of Southern Leytenos. For instance, the proposed Omnibus Power
Reform Act of 1999 which has been certified urgent by Malacanang deserves our support.
Like the House leadership, I shall give more emphasis on the quality rather than the
quantity of measures being worked out. Reaching Out to Help Those Who Help Themselves Perhaps it would interest you how we have helped our people in Southern Leyte through the Congressional Offices I have established in Manila, Maasin, San Juan and San Francisco to facilitate and expedite concerns that are within our means to address. Our local staff and volunteers were able to arrange various activities including networking, consultative dialogues, forum and meetings with different sectors. Their efforts have contributed to the following accomplishments, namely:
My Congressional consultative visits particularly in the Panaon, Pacific, and Sogod Bay municipalities serve as an effective mechanism through which plans and projects are solicited, discussed, worked out, and implemented satisfactorily. While most of the projects I was able to secure funding for are still being readied for implementation, a host of other Food Security Program-related project proposals are already in the pipeline for proper evaluation and fund matching. These proposals are generated from my direct consultative dialogues I hold as often as I could with various constituents in different localities. These include livestock production center and increased crop production program, farm-to-market roads, irrigation, potable water system, national roads and bridges, among others. Thus far, we have initiated and /or caused the approval/implementation or completion of the following projects with costs amounting to approximately P400 million:
Among the approved projects which are due for immediate implementation are:
As you can see, we have focused our intervention in areas where we feel we
could make a different. We have avoided ostentatious undertaking which results into
nothing but a waste of our resources and energies. As we move on, we will try to tap other
sources of funding so that we are able to expand our reach out areas to include those
barangays which were not given any assistance and other qualified sectoral groups wanting
of our support. We are also trying our best in providing employment to our constituents
through the establishment of offices like the Social Security System (SSS) and the
Government Service and Insurance System (GSIS). Linking Up with the Resource Holders Even before you have given me the mandate to represent the Lone District of Southern Leyte, I have been moving around the country and in some parts of the world carefully studying various forms for development and the different methods of mobilizing resources to fund these development initiatives. I have come prepared for the job you have honored me to serve. My more than three decades as a practicing lawyer including a period of teaching law and business have helped me a lot in understanding public administration, local governance, legislation, and development management. These are all essential subjects that matter the most for any public official. However, having undergone this process does not mean we have to stop thinking and learning. Establishing a functioning network to broaden your resource base is the next logical thing to do. We have to continue searching for people and resource holders who can help us prepare Southern Leyte as we surge ahead of the rest of the next millennium. We can not afford to be left out in this fast-changing, technology-oriented world we now live in. We have to work harder, maintain our focus, and link up with the global network. Our local government units starting from the barangay up to the provincial level have to keep on moving, searching and bringing in new knowledge and learning back to our people. Only with an empowered community can we face the challenges in the future with
certainty and success. Quo Vadis, Southern Leyte? The long and winding road, so to speak, is still far from over. We need to ask ourselves: What do we do next? Where are we heading? There is no quick and easy answer to these questions. In my foreign study trips to Europe, the United States, Japan, and other parts of the globe, I have always been a keen observer and interested student of state-of-the-art knowledge and skills. In some cases, I also do the talking and convincing. For instance, in Japan I made sure that Southern Leyte gets a big chunk of the Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund intended to develop our Pacific-Panaon road network. In Europe and in the United States, I have encouraged potential investors to invest in the country, particularly in Southern Leyte. In Taiwan, I strongly urged the Taiwanese business community to expand their businesses in the Philippines and/or hire more from our own skilled labor force. These are some of the initiatives I intend to pursue in the coming years of my term as your voice in the national government. I shall relentlessly push our socio-economic development and political maturity until we are able to attain progress and sustainability we deserve. Of equal importance and interest is our short and long term program to build the capacities of our barangay officials and youth leaders to conceptualize, implement, monitor and manage projects that benefit our constituents. These sectors, including our senior citizens, women, and non-government organizations, deserve our support. At the economic front, I would like to challenge and strongly encourage the leaders of the Pacific and Panaon areas to fast-track the organization and strengthening of the Pan-Pacific Economic Council that will serve as the vehicle and expedite development of these areas. I firmly believed that these areas have to be given the proper and adequate assistance they were deprived of. The potentials of these areas are so huge that they can be the linchpins that Southern Leyte need to trailblaze the path to progress. The same is true with the Sogod Bay and the Central clusters, with Maasin at the forefront. Our private sector should also be given the opportunity to be our reliable partners in progress. Hence, I would like to see the members of the local business community in the District as a helping arm of our government. The private sector remains a very potent force of development. Perhaps they should give more emphasis on a strong and functioning network and start looking at the possibilities of building appropriate technology centers in specific areas in the province in collaboration with the government sector and some international groups, if necessary. I shall elaborate on these very important plans later on as we take steps in ensuring that what we have envisioned are started and realized. Indeed, the tasks are so overwhelming. But then again, as I have said earlier,
we can make a difference. We are far ahead now from where we have started a year ago. What
more if we continue to work and sacrifice together for Southern Leyte and our people?
There is no stopping us now. There is no other choice but to soar and soar high.
|
||
