| Youthful
and spirited, ingenious and dynamic, proactive and kindhearted
– this is Maria Valentina Galido Plaza, the new lady
governor of the Province of Agusan del Sur.
Tina, as she is fondly called by intimates, is the youngest
of the progeny of the late Congressman and Governor Democrito
O. Plaza and former Governor Valentina Galido Plaza, both
local political icons. She was born on June 1, 1967 in Pasay
City just a few weeks before Agusan del Sur came into being
thru Republic Act No. 4979 signed on June 17th of the same
year.
Inheriting
the hearty spirit of her father, she pursued and finished
her Agribusiness degree at the University of the Philippines
in Los Baños, Laguna where she also excelled in the
male-dominated sport of tae kwon do and rodeo. Governor Tina
Plaza is herself a three-time national tae kwon do gold medalist
as a member of the UPLB Tae Kwon Do Varsity Team and a two-time
champion of the UPLB Rodeo Team.
After college, she taught at Rosemont School for two years.
Finding a knack for teaching young people, she partnered with
Cartwheel Foundation with its Teacher Training for Home Teaching
and established a school in one of the far-flung indigenous
people’s community in the province. In partnership with
the local leaders and parish people, her initiative brought
substantial improvement in the learning capacity of the young
“lumads” in the area.
As a career woman, she also ventured into business and put
up her own company, Fatima Foods Corporation, which exclusively
distributes dressed chicken in the entire Caraga Region. She
likewise holds a top position in the family owned D.O. Plaza
Holdings Corporation as vice president for Mindanao operations.
On the side, she busies herself with her other socio-civic
commitments in the Catholic Charismatic Renewal Movement and
the Love and Mercy Community. She also served as chairperson
of the Provincial Tourism Council and an active advocate of
the provincial government’s moral recovery and value
formation program.
Though she grew up in a political environment, Tina was content
playing supporting roles to her more prominent parents and
siblings. It did not take long for the calling to public service
catch up with her. With the prodding of her brother predecessor,
Governor Adolph Edward G. Plaza, this political heiress, though
a neophyte, won an overwhelming mandate from the people with
her landslide victory in the May 14, 2007 local polls together
with her entire provincial slate.
Her peers at the League of Provinces of the Philippines likewise
appointed her as deputy secretary-general for Mindanao.
Now primed to follow in the footsteps and carry on the legacy
of her forebears, Governor Tina Plaza is keen on upholding
and advancing honest, practical, equitable and steadfast public
service anchored on her 8-point agenda for development. These
are: peace and order; economic development; education, youth
and sports development; health, nutrition and social development;
socio-cultural and tourism development; moral recovery and
value formation; environmental protection and water management
and information and communication technology advancement,
all geared towards attaining the mission and vision of a God-centered,
caring and self-sustaining Province of Agusan del Sur.
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