Local officials see strong fiscal recovery, peace ahead

The country’s economic performance and the political opposition’s failure to whip up strong public backlash against the Arroyo administration in the provinces are "favorable indicators of a strong fiscal recovery and an accelerated political stability," according to local officials.

"We are not at all affected by the political noise in imperial Manila," said Bohol Gov. Erico Aumentado, who is also president of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP).

"With the peso getting stronger, the remittances of our Filipino overseas workers soaring to new record highs and tourist arrivals increasing everyday, our country will continue to endure, recover and prosper in due time."

Mayor Ramon Guico of Binalonan, Pangasinan, partly blamed the media for bad perceptions of the country, saying negative reporting eventually spooks investor confidence.

"We simply have an overdose of negative reports that only drive away investors in our country. Can we not start talking about the innovations of our local leaders in good governance? There are a lot of exemplary deeds that are not being highlighted by the media," said Guico, ULAP executive vice president and head of the League of Municipalities.

"Our country is being portrayed in a bad light as if there are no more good-hearted civilized Filipinos left. The truth of the matter is that, outside of imperial Manila, people are much more peacefully settled and co-existing with one another," said Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas, head of the League of Cities.

Agusan del Sur Gov. Edward Plaza said Filipinos in the south have grown impatient with the political opposition’s campaign to force Mrs. Arroyo from office over allegations that she cheated in last year’s presidential election.

"We in Mindanao are already tired of listening to the same songs sung by those in Metro Manila," he said.

Bataan Gov. Enrique Garcia said the opposition’s attacks against the Arroyo administration through the media would ultimately backfire.

"They continue to believe that manipulating the media will bear constructive results for them. In a larger sense, the negative stories will eventually boomerang against the opposition," Garcia said.

In a speech at a convention of the Provincial Board Members League in Laoag City, Ilocos Norte, Interior Secretary Angelo Reyes encouraged the opposition to move on.

"It is time for all Filipinos to place much greater value on the ties that unite the nation rather than build a wall that divides us," he said.

Although Mrs. Arroyo enjoys strong backing from local officials across the country amid the political crisis, "to ride out the storm, there is a need for a compromise of principles for the sake of the country and the people," Reyes said.

Carlo Fortuna, ULAP secretary general and president of the Philippine Councilors League, hopes that the upcoming Southeast Asian Games would help promote national unity.

"We are aspiring to capture the overall championships for the first time since 1977. What better way to do it on home ground with the opposition joining hands with the administration," he said.