Army, PNP official in ZamboSur rate PNoy's SONA a 10

By Gideon C. Corgue

Friday 27th of July 2012

PAGADIAN CITY, July 27 (PIA) -- The division commander of the 1st Infantry (Tabak) hailed the President on his third State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered Monday at the Batasang Pambansa Complex in Quezon City.

Brigadier Gen. Ricardo Rainer Cruz III said this year’s SONA was more convincing than the previous ones, noting that the President sincerely reported the accomplishments of his administration.

He said he was grateful for the continued and unparalleled support to the modernization and capability upgrade of the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

“Providing soldiers with modern equipments and giving them good benefits will further motivate them to perform better and deliver effective and efficient services to the people, which is their obligation to our country,” Cruz said.

The commander added that the modernization program will provide bright future for the soldiers and help solve the insurgency problem in the country.

“With the implementation of low-cost housing program for the AFP and PNP, it greatly helped ease the soldiers’ financial burdens,” he said.

In a scale of one to 10 with 10 being the highest, Cruz gave the President a “10” cognizant of the President’s achievements in a span of more the two years.

Meanwhile, Zamboanga del Sur Police Provincial Director William T. Manzan also gave the President a 10.

He was elated to hear that the President mentioned the strengthening of the entire country’s police force by providing 74,600 guns to bring down the crime rate.

“The acquisition of firearms will help the police to effectively reduce crime rate and improve their performance,” Manzan said.

Vic del Pilar, president of the Zamboanga del Sur – Pagadian Press Club, Inc. (ZPPI), gave the President a "7" on his SONA.

He praised the current administration for instituting reforms and for the President’s fight against corruption but noted that Aquino failed to give updates on his anti-corruption campaign.

The ZPPI president cited the President Aquino for building sufficient infrastructure projects, thus, generating job opportunities for Filipinos.

Del Pilar also took notice that Aquino mentioned the Pagadian City airport as one of the 12 airport projects in his SONA.

“I thank the President for mentioning Pagadian airport. With this, I am confident that our city will now be included in the country’s map of development,” he said. (JPA/ALT/GCC-PIA9, Zambosur)