De Venecia gets hero’s welcome in Dagupan

DAGUPAN CITY — Speaker Jose de Venecia, his political career resurrected, came home to a hero’s welcome today as the city’s favorite son.

He rode at the head of a two-kilometer long motorcade and kept his campaign promise by opening two major bridges to usher in what he calls an era of "politics of performance and politics of achievement."

At the end of the motorcade, De Venecia plowed into an adoring hometown crowd of barangay officials and the city’s "poorest of the poor," pumping hands and acknowledging cheers before formally opening the P115-million Quintos Bridge in downtown Dagupan City.

City Mayor Benjamin Lim, Vice Mayor Alvin Fernandez and Public Works and Highways Regional Director Jose Rigor stood by as the Speaker cut the ribbon and reopened traffic in a major artery of Northern Luzon.

"We are keeping our election promises to inaugurate an era of politics of performance and politics of achievement," said De Venecia,who won a third term as Speaker last Monday with the biggest mandate in the history of the Philippine legislature.

In his speech at the Quintos Bridge opening, De Venecia also stressed the need to translate President Gloria Arroyo’s 35-point plan she announced in her State-of-the-Nation Address into action plans at the regional, provincial and town levels across the country.

De Venecia later opened the Macayug Bridge linking the towns of Mangaldan, San Fabian and San Jacinto.

The Speaker also revealed that President Arroyo and Public Works and Highways Secretary Simeon Datumanong have authorized the release of P152 million requested by Rep. Mark Cojuangco and Pangasinan Gov. Victor Agbayani for the immediate reconstruction of the Alorogat Bridge.

Work is scheduled to start next week on the bridge in eastern Pangasinan which collapsed during recent rains, virtually paralyzing traffic to Baguio City and the Ilocos provinces. De Venecia and Rep. Amado Espino also announced that the construction of the P400-million Dumalandan Bridge in the capital town of Lingayen will soon start three years after the span collapsed during the 1998 floods, crippling traffic to western Pangasinan and Zambales.