Sectoral leaders cite PNoy admin improvements

By Jeanevive D. Abangan

Tuesday 24th of July 2012

TAGUM CITY, July 24 (PIA) -- Sectoral leaders in Davao del Norte and in nearby provinces, cited several improvements of the three-year administration of President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

The campaign versus graft and corruption stands well-noted by the eight sectoral leaders who aired their views about the mid-term performance of President Aquino III.

Shirley Belen Aala, acting provincial governor , provincial board member, said the President has done well in going after government officials involved in graft and corruption.

Cooperative and civil society leader Norma Pereyras said the President did well in putting into effect changes in governance as he relentlessly pursued his campaign against graft and corruption.

She also noted efforts of the national government to closely attend to the needs of the poor.

Tagum City tourism and women council chairperson Alma Uy expressed the same observation, saying the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program is indeed helping the poor on their immediate needs.

Uy noted too that parallel to efforts on poverty alleviation is the transparency in government auditing which, she said is being implemented faster, citing the work of the Commission on Audit (COA) which now can release reports at earliest possible time.

Meanwhile, Uy was glad about the focus the Aquino administration is giving on tourism, drummed up through the theme, “It’s More Fun in the Philippines.” This had locals explore their towns and cities, thereby propelling tourism businesses.

As a businesswoman, Uy also noted well the extent of providing access to financial assistance even to small and micro businesses, saying the banks are opening windows through which businesses can easily borrow capital.

Pantukan (Compostela Valley) Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Irene Ang said the business sector is willing to pay taxes as long as their money goes to development projects of the government, not to graft and corruption.

Ang said the President’s campaign against graft and corruption serves as the bedrock on which the Philippine economy has favorably grown this year.

On the other hand, banana growers might have been a little dismayed over the loss of their China market at the height of the Scarborough Shoal issue, but Central Tadeco Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Multi-Purpose Cooperative (CTARBMPCO) chairperson Celso Cubio said he and his colleagues in the small banana industry were consoled through efforts of President Aquino to find another market.

Cubio also noted well the peaceful and diplomatic means the Aquino administration exerted to address the quarantine restrictions that China had imposed on the Philippine export banana, without impinging on the national patrimony issue of the Scarborough Shoal.

The President’s tough diplomatic approach in facing China’s persistent claim over the Scarborough Shoal that lies within the Philippine Economic Zone, appeals to the patriotic spirit of the youth, young Tagum City barangay council Cyril Muring said.

Also the president of Palm City Toastmasters Club of Tagum City, Muring said the diplomatic stand of the President on Scarborough Shoal kindled the “love of country among the youth.”

Muring also lauded the President’s campaign against graft and corruption, K to 12 education initiative and reforms in governance.

For Muslim-Christian Solidarity for Peace Chairman Manolito Tidoy of Panabo City, the impeachment of former Chief Justice Renato Corona is a strong evidence of the President’s “honesty” in his campaign against graft and corruption. (RGA/JDA-PIA11)