MikeLigalig.com

By Zorayda S. Tecson

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga (PNA Feature) – Local officials in Central Luzon marked this year a considerable one amid some challenges and changes that the region dealt with in the past 12 months.

What made this year more remarkable for the people in Central Luzon was the choice of the Filipinos of another highest official in the land that came from the region — President Benigno Simeon Aquino III.

Tarlac Governor Victor Yap earlier said that having a new President of the Philippines who hails from the province brings more pride and glory not only to Tarlaquenos but to the whole region as well.

Peace and Order

Another significant aspect that the public and private sectors in the region feel proud of is the generally peaceful and orderly situation in the region.

This was greatly attributed to the strong partnership among the police, the community, local government units (LGUs).

Chief Supt. Alan LM Purisima, Central Luzon police director, described the overall peace and order condition prevailing in the seven provinces that compose Central Luzon as conducive to development efforts.

Purisima said there was a decreased crime rate and that police and military accomplishments showed a successful campaign against communist insurgency.

He said the joint efforts of the police, military and the citizenry made the conduct of the May 10 automated elections and the synchronized Barangay and Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) polls in Central Luzon the most peaceful one with a significant reduction of election-related violent incidents as compared in the previous years.

The successful operations against private armed groups and local terrorists coupled with the vigilance and active involvement of the local government units, the citizenry and members of the media contributed to the honest, orderly and peaceful elections (HOPE), he said.

The relentless campaign against the insurgency problem in the region also gained headway as four provinces in the region – Nueva Ecija, Aurora, Tarlac and Pampanga were declared as ”insurgency-free.”

Business and Economy

The economic performance in the region has likewise improved this year with the two freeports--Clark and Subic achieving great accomplishments.

Records showed that for the first time in its 17-year history, the Clark Development Corporation (CDC) posted at least $ 1.23 billion worth of exports in a span of 10 months.

Exports in Clark are expected to grow three times higher in the next 24 months as major semi-conductor companies reach their full operating capacity.

CDC president Benigno Ricafort also said that Clark’s P6.364-billion worth of investments comprises 19 percent of Central Luzon’s investment figure of P33.84 billion for 2009.

Ricafort said Clark is seen to have a huge share in Central Luzon’s investment with the completion of new projects in the electronic and semi-conductor, manufacturing and tourism sector by 2012 to 2013.

The Port of Subic, on the other hand, posted a whooping collection of P501 million last November, a P59-million excess over its target of P442 million.

The November collection brought the total tally for the last 11 months here to P4.52 billion — an all-time high in terms of actual cash haul in the Subic Bay Freeport, and already 5.33 percent more than the total cash collection of P4.29 billion recorded in 12 months last year.

Subic, along with Clark and Tacloban, registered the only positive record among the 17 ports in the country, with Subic as the best performer, the BOC said.

“At this point, without even reaching the P5-billion projected mark, the November figure is by far the highest since 1998,” Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority (SBMA) administrator Armand Arreza earlier said.

Tourism

The arrival of foreign tourists through the Diosdado Macapagal International Airport (DMIA) at the Clark Freeport was not affected by the hostage-taking tragedy in Manila last August 23 that resulted in the killings of eight Hong Kong nationals.

Ronaldo Tiotuico, regional director of the Department of Tourism in Central Luzon said that despite the negative repercussions of the incident, DMIA “continues to draw loads of air passengers from South Korea, Singapore, Macau, Taipei, Bangkok, Malaysia and even Hong Kong.”

Tiotuico said the DMIA registers an average of 25,000 air passengers per month.

Labor and Employment

Almost 90,000 jobs across the region have been generated within a year.

Labor and Employment Regional Director Ernesto Bihis said around 89,343 job seekers have been placed in wage employment as of October.

Bihis said the jobs were generated through their strong partnership and linkages with the Public Employment and Service Offices (PESOs) of local government units.

Aside from job generation, he said, the DOLE-Region 3 has also bridged employment opportunities for the youth through its Special Program for the Employment of Students (SPES).

At least 6,791 indigent and deserving students in the region were able to secure summer jobs in time for their enrollment to pursue their college degrees, he said.

Bihis said the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) also took part in the employment-generation efforts by providing training and re-training to some 110,000 out-of-school youth and unemployed adult persons in various trades. (PNA Feature)

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