In
his 45-minute State of the Province Address (SOPA) delivered
January 22 at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan Session Hall,
Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas, Sr. highlighted seven areas
of development which he wanted given focus for this year.
These
areas include road infrastructures, education for the future
of the children, modernization of government-run hospital,
agricultural research and development, repair and improvement
of irrigation system, partnerships with private macro-finance
companies and more resources and logistics for the police
force in the province.
Addressing
the crowd composed of provincial government department heads,
the media and members of the Provincial Board, Governor
Tupas said he will not allow anything or anyone to come
in the way of progress, as he seeks to achieve his goals.
Tupas
said with Iloilo in the wings of progress, a network of
first class roads should connect it to various destinations
in Panay through more convenient land travel.
Citing
the fact that education is the key to progress and the children’s
future is very important, he will see to it that membership
in the Provincial School Board is expanded to include various
stakeholders.
He
will also see to it that mechanisms for incentives for teachers
be established to improve teaching skills so that the level
of performance of students/pupils can be raised at par with
other regions.
The
governor further said he will modernize provincial government-run
hospitals and make them centers of excellence in health
and medical care delivery.
Tupas
lauded the performance of the agriculture sector in the
province as far as relatively high food production is concerned,
citing the fact that under his administration, Iloilo was
not adversely affected by typhoons for the last six years.
His administration will facilitate the conduct of agricultural
research and development activities that will result to
knowledge and technology being disseminated to farmers and
fishermen.
In
relation to this, he will address the repair and rehabilitation
of existing irrigation dams to improve water carrying efficiency
so that farmers will be able to produce more.
Paying
attention to the need for investments, the provincial government
will forge partnerships with macro-finance companies for
small loans to qualified individuals, and extend credit
line to micro-finance companies with outstanding records.
Finally,
Tupas said he will allocate more resources to improve the
mobilizing, communications and even firepower of the police
force in the province, for peace and order.
With
these thrusts, Tupas said he was ready to work together
with everybody who shared these goals. (ES Subong/PIA 6)
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