CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Pampanga Chamber of Commerce and Industry Inc. (PamCham) reiterated Wednesday its call to decongest the National Capital Region (NCR) as the advocacy is gaining ground and support from concerned stakeholders in Central Luzon, including lawmakers.
The "Decongest (Metro Manila) for Country's Sake Advocacy" was launched December last year during the business group’s Disaster Management Forum: Understanding the Economic and Financial Impact of Natural and Man-made Disasters graced by Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology Director Dr. Renato Solidum Jr. at Max’s Restaurant in Villa Del Sol, this city.
PamCham made the call and launched the advocacy to “decongest” Metro Manila in the midst of new disaster norms like the devastating Super Typhoon Yolanda that hit Eastern Visayas and the disastrous magnitude 7 earthquake that shook Bohol last year, then again right after Typhoon Glenda paralyzed most of Metro Manila just before middle of this year.
PamCham president Jim Jimenez told Sun.Star Pampanga that reiterating the advocacy will lessen the risks of an economic collapse and chaos.
"We are trying to picture the worst scenario where economic collapse may occur in case the country's business center is hit by catastrophic disasters. We are calling for decongestion of Metro Manila as a preventive move, that banks, corporate offices and major offices be spread over the countryside."
Chamber vice-chairman Rene Romero added that the core principle of the advocacy is "to put the eggs in many other baskets rather than one."
“It will be unimaginable if Metro Manila, which is within the West Valley fault, is hit by a strong earthquake or something in the likes of Mega Typhoon Yolanda. It will become unreachable and all other areas in the country will be direly affected if government and the private sector become suddenly non-functional. We believe we should not put the eggs in just one basket,” he said.
For his part, PamCham chairman emeritus Levy Laus said that the "decongest" advocacy, a start-up move, that others are now following and supporting.
"With this, we hope that more concerned groups and citizens will pick up the call and become advocates, too. We must do something and take the advocacy further in saving the country from all these devastating calamities and threats," he said.
Third District Representative Oscar Rodriguez, meanwhile, vowed full support for the advocacy.
"Indeed, what has been started by PamCham must be emulated as it strengthens community volunteerism as well as the relationship between government and the private sector. We must look at the advocacy in terms of community development and in preparing for other moves like recovery efforts. PPP din iyan -- paghahanda, pagresponde, at pagbangon," said Rodriguez.
The other day, Senate Majority Leader Alan Peter Cayetano said he is pushing for a massive infusion of government resources and infrastructure funds into the development of regions outside Metro Manila as a way to address the congestion problem in the National Capital Region (NCR).
Stressing that billions of pesos are being lost due to traffic in NCR every day, Cayetano noted that the NCR-centric policy of the government is the primary reason why Metro Manila is already congested and why other regions in the country continue to experience slow development.
“The solution to decongesting Metro Manila ay hindi ang pinapakita sa telebisyon na mga bagong kalye, bagong skyway. Hindi yun ang solusyon. Lalo lang sisikip ang NCR. Ang solusyon ay gawin ang mga projects na yan sa labas ng Metro Manila,” he added.
Cayetano suggested that a more feasible solution to decongest NCR is to allot more funds for infrastructure programs in other regions to encourage people to consider looking for employment opportunities and moving in to cities outside the capital region.
Cayetano said there is the need for government to promote a more inclusive economic plan that will allow the implementation of a specific economic strategy for each of the 17 regions. (JTD)