LUCENA CITY—The Quezon Provincial Development Council (PDC) has approved the Annual Investment Program (AIP) worth P5.9 billion, as the province was formally declared “conflict-manageable and ready for further development.”
Gov. David Suarez, PDC chairman, described the signing as a “milestone” and thanked the Armed Forces and the police for the blood, sweat and tears spent for the province’s reaching the level of peace and security.
“All we have to do is to sustain the declaration, now that we are investment-friendly and keep the momentum to ensure further the development of the province,” the governor said in his speech, after he led the signing of the memorandum of understanding for the declaration of the province as conflict-manageable and ready for further development with Brig. Gen. Amador Tabuga Jr., assistant division commander of the 2nd Infantry Division of the Philippine Army, and Police Chief Supt. Valfrie Tabian, acting regional director of the Police Regional Office 4A.
The signing of the declaration, held on Thursday at the Bulwagang Kalilayan, Governor’s Mansion Compound here, indicates that the province has now attained a stable peace-and-order situation with the insurgency problem posed by the communist armed group under control, thus, it is deemed ready for economic advancement and development.
Suarez, seated beside provincial administrator Rommel Edano and board members Ferdinand Talabong and Vincent Dominic Reyes at the head of the presidential table during the PDC full council meeting, also said the P5,971,661,000 AIP budget intended for the province’s priority development programs and projects are geared for the country’s move to federal system of government under President Duterte.