by Richie D. Oloroso
Marquez Commends BIR, DTI Performance
Governor Carlito S. Marquez has commended the notable accomplishments of the Bureau of Internal Revenue and the Department of Trade and Industry provincial offices in Aklan. To him, those offices had immensely contributed to the economic growth of the province.
Gov. Carlito Marquez commendation came in his 7th State of the Province Address delivered during the 3rd Regular Session of the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan on Feb. 2, 2011. He singled out BIR Aklan for increasing its tax collection performance by 14.8 percent from P578.9 million in 2009 to P664,714,186 in 2010, or an increase of P85,741,295.
BIR Aklan exceeded its collection goal for 2010 of P641,852,000 by P22,862.186 or 3.56 percent.
Though Aklan has reduced its dependency on IRA allotment share to only 62 percent well below the national average LGU dependency rate of 79 percent, the provincial government of Aklan receives a billion-pesos IRA share of its about a billion-peso annual budget.
Marquez, likewise, praised the DTI Aklan provincial office for the robust performance in export and domestic sales generated by Aklan producers.
Exports registered US$202.000 in 2010 mainly generated by the exports of piña cloth, abaca, nito crafts, and coco sugar products.
Domestic sales of local producers reached the P129,903,200 mark mainly through participation in local, regional, national, and international trade fairs.
Agri Production Diversification
Also in his SOPA, Aklan Governor Carlito S. Marquez emphasized the diversification in the province-led programs in agricultural productivity.
He acknowledged the provincial government agricultural program maintains Aklan as a surplus rice producer. Through the years, Aklan’s agricultural thrusts have diversified and ventured into vegetable, corn, fishery projects, abaca, mango, and banana productions, and tree plantations, Marquez pointed out.
He reported a total of 13,260 mango seedlings already planted in 221 hectare-area province wide and thousands more of tree seedlings are already distributed for planting from the provincial government’s nursery at Nalook, Kalibo.
Through the support of the DA field office in Region VI, some 41,560 suckers worth P133 million of "lakatan" banana were distributed to 320 farmer – beneficiaries, he said.
In 2010, a total abaca fiber production of 1,242,344 kilograms with a total estimated value of P50 million slightly reduced from a production level of 1,461,292 kilograms in 2009 due to the abaca mosaic disease. The infestation is now under control with the help of the Fiber Industry Development Authority. As of December 2010, a total of 4,208 hectares has been planted to abaca by 4,109 farmers. Marquez reported.
Some five million pesos worth of hybrid rice and corn seeds (1,428 sacks) were distributed last year to 1,845 farmers province-wide to jumpstart the hybrid corn production program.
To compliment crop production, Aklan has also embarked on fishery projects like the massive establishment of concrete artificial reefs, fish enhancing devices, shoreline protection and rehabilitation, techno-demo on high saline tilapia culture in cage, modified extensive tilapia culture in pond, oyster culture while maximizing the distribution of bangus fingerlings, Marquez explained.
A pilot project on pangasius fish culture, the next big thing in fishery is established which may present new business opportunities for Aklanons, Marquez emphasized.
The P1.9 million lambaklad project at Baybay, Makato, Aklan has netted more than half a million pesos income after six (6) months of operation.
Another project of the same kind will be established at Mabilo, Kalibo, costing P1.9 million and another P3 million worth in Katipunan, Buruanga.
A Productive and Responsive SP
In her message to all capitol employees of Aklan during the flag raising ceremonies on Monday morning last month, Vice Governor Gabrielle V. Calizo-Quimpo expressed confidence of a productive and responsive provincial legislative body with the new composition of the Aklan Sangguniang Panlalawigan for the term 2010-2013.
Quimpo vowed as regular presiding officer of the SP, the body will always work harmoniously with a pleasant relationship with the chief executive of Aklan province in order to attain a sustained development of Aklan.
The lady vice governor also expressed amazement of the composition of the new SP which according to her seems to represent two successive generations, the old and the young.
The old generation, she said, is composed of the veteran legislators who are Honorables Nemesio P. Neron, Daisy S. Briones, Jean O. Rodriguez, Rodson F. Mayor and the neophyte but already a senior citizen-president of the provincial federation of the Liga ng mga Barangay, Edina Gelito.
Quimpo emphasized that the young generation of SP members is composed of the Hon. Jose Enrique M. Miraflores, son of former Ibajay Mayor and Governor, and now Congressman Florencio T. Miraflores, the Hon. Victor Manuel Garcia, the son of former Ibajay Mayor, former Aklan Senior Board Member, and former Governor Roberto A. Garcia, Sr., the Honorable Phoebe Clarice L. Cabagnot, the daughter of former two-termer Governor of Aklan, Corazon Legaspi Cabagnot, the Hon. Jonna Morales-Torres, the young lady president of the Philippine Councilor’s League, Aklan Chapter, the Hon. Raymar A. Rebaldo, former Kalibo Mayor and a descendant of notable political leaders of Aklan, the veterans and three-termer but youthful members Selwyn C. Ibarreta, and Gerick M. Templonuevo and the Aklan SP’s "Niño Bonito", the Hon. Bob Augusto Legaspi, the provincial SK Federation President and a descendant of the famous Legaspi political clan.
Quimpo assured, the SP under her is always cooperative to programs of the Provincial Governor requiring legislative action especially matters affecting the welfare and interest of the provincial government employees.
The passage of the 2010 and 2011 annual budgets of Aklan which provides for salary increases and bonuses of the provincial government employees are justifications. /MP
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