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I
believe it is now the best time for me to express my
appreciation and gratitude to those kind-hearted
individuals and groups that, without being asked,
voluntarily gave valuable support to our efforts to
provide assistance to all those who suffered loss of
property and even lives as a result of killer Typhoon
Frank.
There
are a good number of these good Samaritans, many of whom
asked to remain anonymous. They donated food, water and
clothing to the thousands of victims in Iloilo City.
In
behalf of the people of Iloilo City, I would like to
make special mention of my compadre, Ambassador
Tony Cabangon Chua, to Serge Osmeña-Valencia of the PCSO,
to the Philippine National Red Cross headed by my good
friend Sen. Dick Gordon, to the manufacturers of EQ
diapers, to PLDT Smart Foundation, for joining hands and
delivering to our city much-needed relief goods that
kept our flooded compatriots afloat and hopeful. Above
all, we are thankful to Her Excellency, President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo, for directing the National Disaster
Coordinating Council, the Department of Agriculture, the
National Food Authority and the Department of Health (DOH)
to extend utmost help and assistance to the beleaguered
people of Iloilo City and to the victims of the typhoon
and the muddy floods. The solicitousness of Her
Excellency is best exemplified by the fact that even
while she was in that hectic official visit to the
United States, she never abandoned the plight of the
people of Iloilo City.
It was a
successful mission, if not for a small incident that
happened during the medical program conducted by the
Philippine Medical Society to see to the health
conditions of typhoon and flood victims in Iloilo City.
Dr. Lydia Depra Ramos, an overstaying regional director
of the DOH in Region 6, almost stopped the medical
mission from pushing through by her show of bureaucratic
arrogance when she demanded that the Philippine Medical
Society explain why its members were conducting a
medical mission in Iloilo without her prior approval.
This is the same Depra Ramos who caused a string of
cases to be filed with the Ombudsman and in the DOH for
various offenses. Is she also the one who is known in
Region 6 for her imperious and offensive attitude, but
manages to cling to her position by claiming protection
from the secretary of health? Once upon a time, the
patron saint of Depra Ramos was Franklin Drilon. Now,
many in Region 6 are asking the question: Is it
Secretary Duque now?
We don’t
need the likes of a Depra Ramos in Region 6. Maybe she
would be more useful if assigned to Basilan or Jolo.
****
The
country boosted its capability to build bigger and
better cargo vessels, and the President inaugurated
recently the first Philippine-made container ship built
by Korean Hanjin Heavy Industries in Subic free port.
This is the first of six ships ordered by a Greek
company. Hanjin is also planning to build the world’s
largest container ships of the 100,000-ton capacity. The
point here is that shipbuilding is the core industry of
South Korea that lifted the impoverished country into
one of Asia’s highly developed economies. Now the
country is pursuing the same economic strategy, and
indicators show a positive future in this area. This is
the kind of presidential initiative the country is
looking for on a long-term basis. Given the right
leadership, we can show the world that the Filipino can!
****
By the
way, notwithstanding all these crisis situations
happening all over the world, for the first time in our
history, our dollar reserves have reached more than $36
billion. It is more than enough to tide us over during
these times of uncertainty, and let us thank the
President for laying down the groundwork for a sound
economic base and keeping the momentum that keeps the
country afloat even in the worst of times. |
