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Sunday, December 14, 2003
Braganza on comeback trail, seeks mayoralty of Alaminos
By Orly Guirao
ALAMINOS CITY -- It's no mere barbershop talk.
Former Congressman and Cabinet Member Hernani "Nani" Braganza now talks turkey. He has confirmed he will slug it out with Mayor Eduardo "Dong" Fontelera in the coming May 10, 2004 elections.
Braganza, who is quitting his post as political adviser to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo shortly to prepare for the elections, said he is seeking the mayorship of his home city to respond to a strong public clamor and set the cadence for a metropolitan growth in western Pangasinan with Alaminos as matrix.
Stressing he could do more as a local government manager to improve the lot of the constituency, the former Agrarian Reform Secretary pointed out that Alaminos, the youngest city in the northern growth corridor, is blessed with abundant resources which, if properly tapped, may yet be transformed into a major eco-tourism center in this part of the country.
"The challenge is here, not in Congress, or in any national position," Braganza said, as he expressed the view that the new global economic order will necessarily change the mode of local governance.
Already, the local government units (LGUs) have started to absorb directly the load of growth demands, prompting the national government to refocus its development priorities to be able to respond to the prerogatives of countryside growth.
Braganza, the brainchild of Alaminos' cityhood, revealed that several corporate groups are eyeing the city as an ideal location for food processing and light manufacturing industries such as garments and electronics.
One group, he said, has expressed keen interest in developing the carrageen industry, while another is interested in dairy farming and orchard growing for fruit-bearing trees.
Only three years into its cityhood, Alaminos' internal revenue allotment (IRA) has leaped to P170 million from P70 million as a first-class municipality.
Home of the world-renowned Hundred Islands, the city is host to thousands of tourists who visit the place every year, especially during the summer months.
Braganza is optimistic the wondrous tourism haven will greatly boost the country's dollar-earning industry if the needed infrastructure facilities are put in place.
For instance, he said, with the city's strategic location - midway between Manila and Kaoshiung, Taiwan's industrial city - and the building of an airport will further entice tourists and investors, thus enhancing its economic growth aims in the next decade.
As it lies along the Lingayen Gulf, the establishment of a seaport will speed up the exchange of commerce and industry that are seen to expand to the vast, rolling hills, where light industrial activities and agricultural cropping can be harmonized to steamroll an urban-rural mix economy.
As DAR Secretary, Braganza envisioned the establishment of fruit-bearing tree orchards where the cooperatives of the agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) could be harnessed, both in production and management.
"I still believe that growth can be better sustained through the cooperatives," he said.
(December 14, 2003 issue)
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