BEST PERFORMING PROVINCE

LINGAYEN–Gov. Amado Espino Jr. bid goodbye to his constituents in his ninth and final State of the Province Address (SOPA) at the Capitol Plaza here last Thursday, citing the accomplishments of his administration and the Capitol’s employees that catapulted Pangasinan as the best performing province in Region 1 today and the fourth best performing in the entire country.

In a moving speech that was also heard by former Rep. Mark Cojuangco who joined the crowd, Espino enumerated the many achievements in different fields and endeavors that won recognition not only in the region but by national agencies.

The Governor said the foremost significant award received by the province was the Seal of Good Governance (SLG) conferred by the Department of Interior and Local Government in 2014 after being consistently named a recipient of the Seal of Good Housekeeping since 2011.

“This is a testament to the province’s faithful compliance with the demands of transparency and good local governance,” Espino said.

Under Espino’s stewardship, Pangasinan was a Regional Hall of Fame awardee in Local Governance Performance Management; Regional Development Agenda Implementation; Project Implementation of Millennium Development Goals; Maintenance of Sound Statistical Management Systems; and Coastal Resource Management.

“All of these give our provincemates renewed sense and trust in their government, new hope, value and love for Pangasinan and also were the ones who gave strength to the sons and daughters of Pangasinan to feel proud of their own province,” he said before over 7,000 officials and employees of the provincial government and barangay officials.

He said leading by his vision and commitment “to make Pangasinan Number 1 province in the whole country” resulted in many of the province’s programs being made a model by other provinces in the region.

He took pride in Pangasinan being the only province whose Provincial Hospital in San Carlos City was given an ISO 9001:2008 certification as proof of its good quality service and its adherence to international standards in managing a public hospital, in addition to being cited as the LGU with Best Practice in hospital management in 2010.

“Now, we can feel proud to say that no head of a family will be scared if his wife and children get sick as in the past because they know that they will be given medicines and competent medical care in all the 14 public hospitals run by the province,” he added.

In agriculture, Pangasinan’s rice harvest of only 8112,000 metric tons in 2007 rose to 1.3 million metric tons in 2014 after providing irrigation to 102,628 hectares of land in 2014 and 125,744 hectares of land in 2015 from mere 86,455 hectares in 2007 when Espino began his term.

As a result, Pangasinan was recognized as National Hall of Famer in Agri-Pinoy Rice Achiever’s Award and also bagged the National Quality Corn Achiever’s Award in 2013 and 2014. Pangasinan was adjudged regional champion in Poverty Reduction Program Implementation by the National Statistical Coordination Board.

In tourism, Pangasinan is now the top tourist destination in Region 1, recording more than 6.4 million visitors in 2015 as compared to 141,928 in 2007.

Other significant awards received by the province, said Espino, are 2015 Best National Hall of Fame Best Employment Service Office, first class province category; Most Outstanding Provincial Accounting Office in 2008 and 20134, Most Outstanding Provincial Assessor’s Office in 2008; Region 1 Most Outstanding Provincial Treasurer in 2011; National Champion, Garantisadong Pambata, 2009; National Champion, DSWD National Pagasa Youth Summit, 2011; and yearly awardee for Best Tourism Practices since 2012. (Leonardo Micua)

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