Second District Rep. Manuel Sagarbarria expressed gratitude to outgoing House Speaker Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the projects she initiated during her term as president of the Philippines, that continue to have a strong impact on the economy of Negros Oriental.
Sagarbarria welcomed Speaker Arroyo to Negros Oriental last Monday on a sentimental visit to, what she called, her “favorite projects“ that include the roll-on, roll-off (Ro-Ro) ferry transportation system here that connects Negros to islands in Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao.
The former President, now congresswoman representing the 2nd district of Pampanga, launched the western part of the Ro-Ro system in 2003, the central nautical highway in Central Visayas connecting to ports in Central Mindanao.
Sagarbarria said the Ro-Ro system has spurred economic activity in Negros Oriental because of the ease of transporting goods from Mindanao to Luzon, using Negros Oriental as transit point.
Sagarbarria was president of the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce & Industry during the Arroyo presidency.
He agreed with Arroyo’s observation that one of the good things the Ro-Ro routes has brought about is improvement of trade and commerce among regions because of the Central Nautical Highway. “Everything is so near because of the Ro-Ro ports,” Arroyo said.
She also attributed the development of the tourism industry in Central Philippines as a result of the port connections.
Without the Ro-Ro, tourist attractions such as swimming with the whale sharks in Oslob in Cebu, scuba diving in Apo Island, dolphin-watching in Bais, rowing at the Twin Lakes in Balinsasayao, or spelunking in the caves of Mabinay would not be enjoying record numbers of visitors.
Many of these tourist attractions are found in the Second District, which Sagarbarria represents in Congress.
The outgoing House speaker said she was happy to hear from local officials of Santander, Cebu that the municipality of Oslob was visited by more or less 500,000 tourists during the first six months of this year alone.
She capped her visit with a short briefing at the Sibulan port, where she thanked Negrenses for giving her a resounding victory in the 2004 presidential election.
“On my part, I don’t think I will have as great a legacy as world leaders like Winston Churchill or John F. Kennedy but I think my legacy is that I was able to restore fiscal health after a storm of financial crisis here and abroad, and the fiscal stability paved the way for my being able to build so much infrastructure, more and better than before that includes the nautical highway, the roads, and all the ports of the Nautical Highway,” she said.
To the benefit of Negros Oriental, it was not only the ports which Arroyo helped to develop but also the roads from Santander to Cebu City, and the entire Nautical Highway connecting Negros to the other islands.
She pointed out that because of the fiscal stability, poverty rate went down during her incumbency as President, noting that seven million Filipinos were lifted out of poverty during her administration. She also thanked the Filipino people for giving her a chance to serve as President. (Juancho Gallarde)
(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});