BAGUIO CITY – Apayao province and Bauko municipality saved the day for the Cordillera as President Benigno Simeon C. Aquino gave special attention to the two local government units and the projects of his administration that were instrumental in improving the lives of the people in the countryside during his last State of the Nation Address (SONA) delivered before the joint session of Congress last Monday.
The Chief Executive asserted that the allocation of the government’s meager resources was based on the need of the people in the different areas and not because of the political alignment of local officials and that he was able to win in the said places during the May 2010 presidential elections.
In the case of Apayao, President Aquino asserted the reason for the allocation of more than P5 billion for infrastructure development over the past three years was because the province had one of the least paved roads and the absence of sufficient bridges that would improve inter-barangay, inter-municipal, inter-provincial and inter-regional linkages.
Apayao Gov. Elias C. Bulut, Jr. admitted that P{resident Aquino did not win in the province during the presidential elections but he was grateful to the Chief Executive that he crossed partylines in order to provide the local government with substantial funds from various agencies that greatly contributed to the improvement of infrastructure provincewide.
Because of the improved infrastructure, Bulut cited the sudden surge of economic activities that now serve as a major source of employment and livelihood for the people thereby contributing to efforts in curbing the high prevalence of poverty in the locality.
“We have to give the President the credit for what Apayao is now. He was able to prove that the distribution of the government’s meager resources is not based on whether he was able to win in the province during the presidential elections but it is based on the need of the people,” Bulut underscored.
However, he cited addressing poverty will take sometime but the contribution of the Aquino administration to the province’s growth is enormous over the past several years despite having lost in the province and that it also has a low voting population.
Part of the projects being currently implemented in the different parts of Apayao are the construction of eleven bridges that would improve inter-municipal and inter-provincial linkages thereby improving travel time from upper Apayao composed of the towns of Conner, Cabugao and Calanasan to lower Apayao that host the towns of Pudtol, Luna, Sta. Marcela and Flora.
For the ,imoco[a;out pf Bailp, Mountain Province, Mayor Abraham B. Akilit expressed the gratitude of the people to President Aquino because most of the populace are now reaping the fruits of energization under the Aquino administration’s Sitio Energization Program (SEP)
Mayor Akilit said that since July 2013 up to the present, the government was able to energize some 123 sitios that were distributed in the town’s 22 barangays, allowing the people to establish sources of livelihood that were able to contribute in improving the quality and way of life compared to the time when they did not have power.
The local chief executive admitted that there was already electricity in Bauko over two decades ago but what he was referring during his video clip that was played during the President’s SONA was that energization of non-viable areas in the locality was fastracked during the term of President Aquino.
According to him, officials of concerned government agencies assured him that the energization of still unenergized sitios in the locality will push through in the coming months in order to bring power to the countryside which will contribute in improving the quality of living and create employment opportunities for the people.
“We challenge the people who trace their roots in Bauko to come home and visit the place so that they will be able to see how they can contribute to further spur economic growth. Efforts to improve the living condition of people should not be solely lodged to the elected officials but everybody has a role to do in growth and development,” Mayor Akilit stressed.
Akilit emphasized electricity is a major economic driver that is why the energization of the different sitios in the locality has resulted in the mushrooming of micro and small businesses that use electricity to enhance their production of various items beneficial to generating income for their respective families.
He appealed to his critics not to resort to destructive politics but instead show their prowess by helping the municipal government source out resources that will be effectively and properly used to improve the quality of life in the fast growing municipality.
