President Ferdinand Marcos, Jr.’s commitments to improve and address the welfare of every Filipino, particularly those in the countryside, earned him praises from the business and civil government sectors here.
Edward Du, president of the Negros Oriental Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NOCCI), said yesterday that the group “lauds the President’s commitment to provide free Wi-Fi and vowed to further expand it and the digitalization program as the new standard in Philippine schools.”
This has been an advocacy that the NOCCI has been espousing way back in 2017, Du said, with the chamber’s Free Wi-Fi project benefitting thousands of elementary and high school students in geographically isolated and disadvantaged areas in Negros Island and Apo Island.
He thanked the President for giving priority to free Wi-Fi and digital education as “critical components for uplifting the country’s education system which is now in crisis.”
Du also noted that the President’s pronouncement to reduce electricity costs and the prices of basic commodities is in line with NOCCI’s economic agenda.
Meanwhile, rice trader Danford Sy, president of New Bian Yek Commercial, said he supports the President in pushing for local rice production to address food security.
Sy, however, lamented the reality that there is still a need to continue importing rice until the Philippines is self-sufficient.
“While we are engaged in healthy competition among rice traders here, we cannot also just bring the prices of rice up to a level that is no longer affordable to the public,” he said.
Fortunately, with the rice tarrification brought down to 15 percent, imported rice is now being sold at least P200 per bag (well-milled) lower than in previous months, he noted.
Rice importers in Negros Oriental, specifically in this capital, can afford to bring the prices a bit lower than other areas because the importation shipment comes directly to the province, he said.
The businessman is hoping that the Marcos administration will identify more potential areas to be planted with rice.
Sy commended the President for looking at ways to improve food security, especially because Filipinos are primarily rice-eaters.
Meanwhile, City Councilor Rey Lyndon Lawas said the State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Monday, July 22, was “extensive and comprehensive,” focusing more on the current needs and challenges of the country.
“I am satisfied to know that he talked and emphasized about health, education, employment, the partnership between government and the private sector, the campaign against illegal drugs, the West Philippine Sea issue, and the existence of POGO (Philippine Offshore Gaming Operations), among others,” he said.
On the issue of POGOs, Lawas said the President’s marching order to immediately stop these illegal operations is “a strong statement that entails a big challenge to all concerned state agencies. It calls for an all-concerted effort to include local government units to look for and check their backyard for the existence of any.” (PNA)