Lawmaker bares plan, to focus on agri, tourism

SAN Juan City Representative Joseph Victor Ejercito said on Monday that he will focus on agriculture and tourism if given the chance to serve as a senator of the Philippines.

Ejercito disclosed his political plans during a round-table discussion with reporters at the sideline of the three-day Philippines Councilors League (PCL) convention in Zamboanga City.

Ejercito, who has served as San Juan City mayor from 2001 to 2010, is one of the resource speakers of the PCL convention that started Wednesday.

He said he will focus on agriculture since he wanted to continue and push through the vision of his father, former President Joseph Ejercito Estrada, in making Mindanao as the country’s food basket.

Mindanao could be the ideal food basket of the country since its soil is very fertile and typhoon-free unlike Luzon, Ejercito said.

He said what is needed to boost Mindanao’s food production is free irrigation, improvement and construction of more farm-to-market roads and the construction of post harvest facilities.

He said he would also focus on tourism since it is a “top dollar earner” industry of the country.

What the government could do is to partner with the private sector to develop potential tourist sites to attract foreign tourists to visit in the country, Ejercito said.

There are many areas in the country that are ideal tourist attractions but were left undeveloped, he added. (Bong Garcia)