Investments in the 5th District
COJUANGCO UPDATES
“NO politics involved,” was the curt reply of former Fifth District Rep. Mark Cojuangco to a query about the use of excise tax in his district when he was the congressman.
Speaking to newsmen Thursday after the formal inauguration of the Dagupan Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation Center, he denied giving dole-outs from excise tax.
“It was used for fixed investments. We bought the lot, constructed the warehouse, built the leading industrial grains dryers that cannot be found elsewhere in the Philippines,” he said.
He added that during his term, he initiated road widening in the barangays, purchased tractors and farm implements, “so no dole out, no politics, just fixed permanent improvements for our farmers”.
He said there are now two grains dryers, in Villasis and in Alcala towns.
He said as far as he could recall, his district got about P600-million from excise tax.
The dairy farm in Laoac (upper photo) and palay drying facility in Villasis (lower photo).
Meanwhile, Cojuangco said the dairy farm project which he built in Laoac town is owned by the Fifth District of Pangasinan.
He said the initial funds used for its construction came from his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF), particulalry for the lot which he proudly said he managed to negotiate for a very low price for the benefit of the district.
“Little by little, every year, whenever we had excess funds to be used there, we slowly built the facilities,” he said.
Cojuangco added it is hard to operate a dairy farm. He asked help from the President last year but due to issues that cropped up about the use of the Chief Executive’s funds and PDAF, there was a delay in the release of the fund assistance.
He said one of the key components of the dairy farm is the rotary milking parlor since workers have a hard time milking more than 300 cows simultaneously twice a day.
“Pagka hindi mo nagatasan ang isang nagga gatas na baka, nagkakaroon po ng diperensya ang kanilang suso, so nagkakasakit,” he said.
He added that manual operations for milking cows are no longer be effective considering the big number of cows there.
He said they fought for years for the projects’ funding which had been delayed but since the Supreme Court has decided that some of the PDAF can be spent , he’s optimistic that the plant’s operations will be more efficient this year.
He said the dairy farm’s revenues today are still insufficient to make it self-sustaining.
He said the farm is on “survival mode” so they began planting special grass from Thailand on idle lands along river banks as a cheap source of food for the cows.
“A worthwhile project sometimes takes time for it to mature and bear fruits” Cojuangco stressed. “We just have to be patient with it because this will be the core of a good future dairy industry,” he added.
Cojuangco said the dairy farm has a growing clientele.
He said Department of Social Welfare and Development officials have been advised to use milk from this dairy farm instead of giving cooked instant noodles and artificial fruit juices or soda in their feeding programs as the main consideration for the health welfare of the kids.
Share your Comments or Reactions
Powered by Facebook Comments
