Governor Presbitero Velasco Jr. delivered his State of the Province Address (SOPA) for the citizens of Marinduque on Friday, citing the accomplishments and plans of the provincial government in the past year.
In his speech, Velasco recalls assuming the position a year
ago where the province was ranked 4th class.
“Our province suffered from lack of reliable and clean
potable water, erratic energy supply and sporadic brownouts, inadequate
irrigation water due to lack of dams and water impounding facilities, lack of
jobs, lack of promotion and weak development of tourism areas, poor hospital
system, minuscule revenues and a 90% IRA depended on budget,” he said.
Intending to reclaim “the golden era of Marinduque,” the governor laid out his plans and “made innovative changes and dramatic reforms” throughout the province.
Velasco also cited how the pandemic has paralyzed not only
the businesses and citizens around the world. He acknowledges the loss of the
majority of jobs in the province such as in manufacturing, farming, and
fishing. But with the help of the Public Employment Service Office or PESO, the
province was able to minimize its unemployment rate.
Improving health care facilities is also one of Gov.
Velasco’s main priorities. He aims to upgrade the Marinduque Provincial
Hospital and combine Sta Cruz General Hospital and Torrijos Municipal Hospital
in the second district.
Furthermore, Velasco partnered with Mctycoon to supply the
province with quality hospital equipment such as digital x-ray, CT Scan, and
other laboratory equipment.
Marinduque is also facing big problems on its water, energy,
and irrigation systems. Velasco said in February, he started a feasibility study of
the Marinduque Waterworks System.
Currently, the governor is working on the budgetary groundworks such as government loans plus foreign and local investors but is committed to realizing his dreams of providing adequate, reliable and clean water for Marinduqenos.
On energy, Velasco wants to end the sufferings of his
constituents in darkness. They had a Power Summit where the National Power
Corp. pledged to endorse the 69 KV facility to Marelco, provide the 4MW gen set
in 3rd quarter of 2020 to replace the old and inefficient power barge, “provide
the 5MW gen set in late 2020 or early 2021 to add more energy capacity,"
he shared.
Velasco also reported that the feasibility of the Bagtingon
irrigation dam is still in process, but P170 million is already set aside for
the first phase of the project. This will help the province's farmers produce
once built.
The governor is also keen on strengthening the food production
industry in the province including fishing and agriculture. They are set to
establish a slaughterhouse for exporting goats, purchase an innovative boat for
fishermen, and build coco oil mill and facility for the production of Virgin
Coconut oil in partnership with the Philippine Coconut Authority.
Tourism is the bread and butter of the provincial government
of Marinduque. Velasco aims to maintain its status by drafting a tourism master
plan to expand the Marinduque Airport for regional flights from Asia and Pacific.
As for the provincial budget, the governor shared that “in
our efforts to increase our budget, we’ve thought of ways on how we can improve
our finances so we can have the money to implement more projects. We decided to
make use of Local Economic Enterprises. In particular, I cite the Sand and
Gravel Economic Enterprise (SAGEE) in order to gain more funds for our
Provincial Government.”
Marinduque just recently celebrated their centennial year as
a province and, for Gov. Velasco, this is one of the most notable achievements
that they have achieved in the last year.
He expresses gratitude to his entire team of public servants
and reminding his constituents that Marinduque will stand tall amidst the
crisis. He believes that with unity, we will heal as one.
"There is no shred of doubt that we must transform our province into a stable, robust, vibrant and resilient province if ever we really want to attain the golden era of Marinduque," said Velasco.
This article first appeared on Manila Standard. With edits.
