SISON, Pangasinan – Former 5th district Rep. and gubernatorial candidate Mark Cojuangco underscored that the province’s agriculture and tourism potentials must be fully utilized through various government interventions in order to make one of the country’s vote-rich provinces as a potential investment hub in the north.
Cojuangco cited the current administration filed to prioritize the development of appropriate post-harvest facilities that would have aided rice and corn farmers to process their produce for value added which would have increasing the buying prices of their crops.
In terms of tourism development, Cojuangco said the province needs an international airport in order to entice foreign and domestic visitors to consider spending their time in world-class tourist destinations in various parts of the province that would greatly contribute in spurring economic activities and sources of livelihood for the people.
“We have to put in place sufficient post-harvest facilities for our rice and corn farmers so that they can market their agricultural crops as rice and corn and not simply as raw palay and corn. We want our farmers to enjoy higher buying prices for their produce so that they will have added income that could be used by their families in sustaining their living condition,” Cojuangco stressed.
As an agriculture province, the former lawmaker cited that bulk of the province’s development fund and other available fund sources should have been earmarked to help in the robust development of the agriculture sector so that farmers will continue to enjoy tilling their lands for higher income considering the availability of post-harvest facilities but the present administration failed to do so, thus, the need for a change in leadership so that those who value the importance of the farmers should be the ones to be voted upon by the electorate in order for them to realize increased benefits for them in the future.
According to him, the province also needs a state-of-the-art train system and seaport in order to be linked with the different economic zones around it for the easier transport of export products and the expected influx of investors from other parts of the Asia-Pacific region considering that Pangasinan is strategically located with sufficient land area for investment purposes.
In selecting the future leaders of Pangasinan, Cojuangco appealed to the people of the province to be circumspect and decisive in selecting a performing leader like him who will be able to bring the province to greater heights and contribute in efforts of both the national and local governments to uplift the living condition of the people and make Pangasinan as one of the economic hubs outside Metro Manila.
Cojuangco called on the voters not to be misled by the squid tactics and the massive vote buying being done by his rivals because they are resorting to such dirty tricks in politics since they want to hold on to power to continue their alleged wrongdoings and depriving the people of true public service and support for the development of the various sectors that would contribute for the overall robust growth of Pangasinan in the future.
By Herald Express News Team