Iloilo governor says Aquino restored public confidence in government

By Vicente W. Villavert

Tuesday 24th of July 2012

ILOILO CITY, July 24 (PIA) -- Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Sr. lauded President Benigno S. Aquino III for restoring the people’s confidence in the government through his firm commitment to good governance and anti-corruption and in creating more projects that will uplift the standards of living of the Filipino people.

In a media interview after the third SONA or State of the Nation Address of President Aquino, Governor Defensor said that it was a good speech and he noted that the President gave the people good reasons to hope “that things will turn out to be better under his leadership as the President of the Philippines.

“He has restored the people’s faith and trust in the government,” Defensor said as he emphasized that this is very important because the country will not progress if the people have no trust and confidence in the government and the President has given the people good reasons to hope for a better change.

Defensor said that President Aquino’s SONA has given a picture of the government’s efforts to fight corruption, to accelerate progress in improving agricultural production, implementing various kinds of infrastructure projects, programs in education, providing universal health care, improving maternal health, and accelerated efforts to eradicate poverty.

President Aquino in his SONA said, “when we began office, there were 760,357 household-beneficiaries of the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program. Our target: 3.1 million within two years. By February of this year, the three millionth household-beneficiary of Pantawid Pamilya had been registered. Next year, we will enroll 3.8 million—five times of what we had at the beginning of our term."

“This is a long-term project, with far-reaching impact. The research is in its initial stages, but already the figures show promise. Based on data from the DSWD: 1,672,977 mothers now get regular checkups; 1,672,814 children have been vaccinated against diarrhea, polio, measles, and various other diseases; 4.57 million students no longer need to miss school because of poverty,” the President said.

In Western Visayas there are 253,245 beneficiaries of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program and of that figure Iloilo province has 67,510 beneficiaries.

The Iloilo province’s agriculture is also expected to produce a bigger yield when the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project is completed, where aside from agriculture it would also augment good quality of potable water supply for the Ilonggos.

As for the education program, the President said that by the end of 2012, he expects the Department of Education to complete the more than two-million backlogs in chairs, including the 61.7 million textbook shortage.

“At para naman po hindi mapag-iwanan ang ating mga state universities and colleges, mayroon tayong panukalang 43.61 percent na pag-angat sa kanilang budget para sa susunod na taon. Paalala lang po: lahat ng ginagawa natin, may direksyon; may kaakibat na kondisyon ang dagdag-budget na ito,” the President said.

President Aquino in his SONA also featured other continuing initiatives and the implementation of different developmental programs aimed at achieving efficient service to the Filipino people. (JCM/VWV-PIA6 Iloilo)