A Journey Into The Light For Aklan *

* Speech of Ms. Gabrielle "Billie" V. CALIZO delivered

during press conference, April 04, 2007, Kalibo, Aklan.

I have accepted the draft to run again in Aklan since I firmly believe that this is consistent with my vision to serve my own province and people.

As an aspirant for Vice Governor, I know many people would ask why I slid when I could have run anew for a congressional seat. The answer is crystal clear. Vicky and I share the same vision for a self-reliant and globally competitive Aklan and we are one in working hard to maximize the full potentials of this province.

Moreover, I see my running as my own journey to see the light and let this light guide all of us in ending the decades of leadership that has never given her people a better deal.

It is this cartel type of leadership who claims to be united in vision, consultative and transparent in practice but in reality, it is a leadership that is anchored on lust for power, self-interest and political patronage, giving no chance at all to develop a new breed of leaders who are independent minded, principled, dynamic and innovative. It is this leadership that opposes anyone who stands in the way of their bullish determination to stay in power at all costs that has shrouded the vision of many Aklanons who have been condemned to high poverty incidence, people who live in want while those in the upper rungs of power enjoy the best things in life for free. It is this leadership that has made livelihood out of pubic service. This is condemnable.

Here is Aklan which is regarded to be the primary tourist destination of the country yet its tourism infrastructures are a far cry from the established global tourism standards, a blatant result of the lack of vision, management skills and political will to design and implement a holistic and effective tourism development program tailor fit to the needs of this very dynamic industry.
Here is Aklan that stands to lose the goose that lays the golden eggs in its primary tourist destination "Boracay" because of greed and total disregard to the island’s fragile ecology.

Here is Aklan that should have employed thousands of Aklanons in its tourism services but sadly, Aklanons have been relegated to menial jobs due to lack of sustained government program to develop human resource capabilities to cater to the growing needs of the local tourism industry.

Here is Aklan that should have profited from its multi-billion pesos tourism industry yet a great majority of its people particularly in the barangays are hungry and poor because of the unregulated investment policy where millions of revenues have been funneled out of the country instead of circulating within the province to pan-prime its economy.

Here is Aklan tolerating wanton development in the Island of Boracay and allowing the unregulated sale of its land to foreign investors which could ironically result to an island which in the next few years might no longer be owned by the Aklanons and the Filipino people.

Here is Aklan whose supposed all-weather jetty port in Caticlan, Malay is riddled with controversy and corruption. To start with, its design is faulty, too grandiose and inefficient for its purpose. The quality of construction is sub-standard lest, it looks worn-out and dilapidated only after a few years. The port proved to be unusable during monsoon season that it is not really an all weather port as claimed by the proponent. While millions in revenues have been generated in entrance and porterage fees, these were not reported accurately over the years. God knows who pocketed the money and this anomaly was supposed to have been found out and addressed, the much increased revenues from the tourism traffic which should have been plowed back to tourism development in Boracay and mainland Malay were generally used to subsidize non-viable projects of the province which are deep in indebtedness and worst, to pay-up the remnants of corruption of the previous administration.

My fellow Aklanons, our province is now faced with a garnishment order from the court to the tune of over 50 million pesos of unpaid bills to the contractor of the Caticlan Jetty Port. It is interesting to note that the appropriations for this project have already been fully dispersed and in fact, the Provincial Engineering Office took over the project and spent additional provincial funds for its completion.

The people of Aklan whilst a beneficiary of a beautiful provincial hospital building are still forced to beg for the basics of health services from those in power contrary to the mandate and moral responsibility of our provincial government to provide free access to health services for all its citizenry.

A highly questionable sense of priority to place the hospital as part of the province’ economic enterprise before it has even fulfilled its basic obligation to provide free healthcare to the Aklanons particularly those in dire need of medical help but unable to afford. It would have been more prudent to have improved the existing hospital building, installed modern equipment, hired and trained qualified medical staff rather than borrow money in the millions to put up a huge building without the necessary compliments to operate an efficient and viable hospital that will self-liquidate its indebtedness.

Here is Aklan that has rich soil and large manpower pool and yet its agriculture is underdeveloped considering the growing demand for vegetables, fruits, fishery, poultry and livestock by its tourism industry and growing population. Ironically, we have to buy even eggs from other provinces and Manila.

Aklan farmers are also bedeviled by rough roads and insufficient agricultural infrastructure. Rough roads are the rule in the backlands as provincial leaders pay little heed to the demand for better roads. The only roads maintained well in the province are those managed by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and they are all national roads. The provincial
roads leading to Libacao, Malinao, Madalag and Buruanga remain unpaved and in a sorry state after repeated promises over the years to improve these roads. It was only during my incumbency as Representative of the Lone District of Aklan when I shared my meager resources to start the concreting of Libacao and Madalag roads.

Our intelligent students also suffer much from insufficient modern learning facilities. It is to the discredit of provincial officials that many schools do not have computer systems even as Filipino scientists themselves have invented both hardware and software to raise the level of information technology.

Fully 3 out of 10 Aklanons are dirt poor and this ratio would still deteriorate unless the priorities of the provincial government are changed.

Unless we generate more jobs and our people enjoy a higher level of disposable income, there will be little demand for local products.

There has been no master plan for the comprehensive development of agriculture and fisheries for decades and this explains why there has been a steady outflow of professionals and college graduates to the National Capital Region (NCR) and abroad. There simply are no jobs available for our professionals. This brain drain will not end unless a visionary leadership takes over the helm of the provincial government.

Vicky Ramos and I might be considered by some quarters as Amazons out to conquer the male–dominated provincial capitol.

They are partly right. We are fighters for a noble cause – to end corruption and institute an efficient and effective government.

We believe that the battle is for principles.

As Vice Governor, my duty will be to marshal the collective wisdom of the provincial board, and I had the chance to serve in that board before, and pass ordinances that would hew closely to the development program Vicky Ramos and I have set out to implement.

I intend to be the diametrical of my opponents since I am committed to make every peso in taxpayers’ money count.

I am running for Vice Governor and I want Aklan to prosper and be a real world class province as we claim. Vicky Ramos and I pledge to restore your faith in Aklan and its leaders.

Mga igmanghud ko riya sa Akean binag-binaga ninyo ro akon ngarang pamisaea. Raya hay puro kamatuuran nga naga kaeatabo riya sa atong probinsya. Ibhi ninyo kami ni Vicky sa among kausa para maimplementar namon ro among sinsiro nga handum para kinyo tanan ag sa atong probinsya. /MP