Cayetano, Angara, Loren seek Pangasinan vote
SENATORS IN TOWN
CANDIDATES for 12 seats in the Senate have been making a stop in Pangasinan, one of the top four vote-rich provinces in the country, as the May 13 election day draws near.
Senator Alan Cayetano, minority leader and a popular re-electionist, was in Urdaneta and San Carlos last Friday and met with mayors and barangay chairmen for the last leg of his Listening Tour in Pangasinan. He was assisted by Abono Partylist Rosendo So.
Liberal Party (LP) bet Edgardo “Sonny” Angara, was in Lingayen last May 1 promising to further push for education development.
Re-electionist Loren Legarda, meanwhile, was in Calasiao on April 28 and underscored her Universal Health Care Bill, which, she said, has the full support of the President.
CAYETANO’S PTK
Seeking a reelection based on his Presyo-Trabaho–Kita platform, Cayetano assured farmers in Urdaneta that he will initiate a legislative agenda that “will put agriculture be at the forefront of economic growth.”
Cayetano expressed dismay over reports stating that despite a 10-percent increase in foreign direct investments (FDI), the agriculture, forestry, and fishery sectors are still lagging behind. In fact, these did not receive any FDI for the third quarter of 2012 – a stark contrast to the P960 million it received as FDI in 2011.
He also expressed concern over the unabated smuggling of agri products including poultry and hogs. He assured farmers that he will ask government to provide more logistics to help stop smuggling and restore viability of farming in the country.
After listening to grievances of fishermen, he vowed to channel more resources for the development of the fishery industry which he admitted has been largely ignored by the government.
“We need growth that is felt by all families, not only big businesses, but also small enterprises as well as various demographics, especially farmers,” Cayetano said.
He said that government must increase farmers’ access to capital by making loans available to existing cooperatives and small businesses. “Instead of paying 20 percent interest to ‘5-6’ lenders to rent equipment and buy seeds and fertilizer, farmer cooperatives will only have to pay 3-5 percent in interest,” he said.
He also proposed that these cooperatives be supported by the government to enable them to acquire small-scale post-harvest facilities. “These will hopefully address the inefficiencies in agricultural production and help in improving the state of our farmers. This will help boost their income and help uplift the lives of their families,” Cayetano said.
ANGARA’S UNIFAST
Angara said his priority bill will be the UnifASt (Unified Assistance to Students in Higher Education), which is based on a one-year study conducted by the congressional covering all existing government scholarships. He stressed that government should focus on long-term goals, and investing on education is one way to achieve this.
“There should be more scholarships both for Technical Vocational and degree courses,” he added. Angara also endorsed the institutionalization of a ladderized system of education as embodied in the new K to 12 program.
LEGARDA ON AGRI, EDUCATION
Legarda, for her part, intends to expand the government’s Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program with a Pantawid Tuition Program wherein at least one member of each of the beneficiary families will be given a college scholarship grant.
In Pangasinan, Legarda also initiated the Barangay Kabuhayan Program where each town is given financial assistance and other agricultural needs.
Abono chairman Rosendo So said the program has brought benefits to about 2,000 hectares of farms in about 20 towns.
At the same time, Legarda decried the “demolition job” against her about a bill that she allegedly authored decreasing or eliminating allowances for government employees.
Legarda presented a certificate from the Senate attesting that she did not file such a bill.–Johanne R. Macob
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