Provincial board members’ league convenes today

President Arroyo is expected to grace the 10th annual convention of the Provincial Board Members League of the Philippines at the Century Park Hotel today.

She is expected to urge the local legislators of the country’s 79 provinces to invigorate their efforts, through prudent legislation, toward the creation of new jobs based on information technology, attaining food security, poverty alleviation, self-reliance, maintaining peace and order, and curbing graft and corruption.

The President is also expected to update the local legislators on the merits of the ongoing Balikatan military exercises of Filipino and American troops in Basilan.

Cavite first district board member Strike Revilla said the legislators are poised to vigorously push for several proposed amendments to the Local Government Code.

Revilla said the provincial officials are set to tackle specific steps to address the following:

• Improvement of tax collection, without imposing new taxes, for development projects;

• Intensification of the peace and order campaign;

• Enforcement of the basic rights of children, specifically in the areas of education and health;

• Sustained delivery of basic services;

• Advancement of agricultural development;

• Promotion of local tourism;

• Mutual cooperation among provinces and the strengthening of the barangays;

• Equal distribution of the Poverty Alleviation Fund, specifically to poor communities; and

• Coastal resource management.

The officials are supporting proposals to return to local government units (LGUs) the control over local police forces to strengthen the fight against organized crime and improve peace and order in the countryside.

"It would be next to impossible to tackle all these issues point by point (during the three-day convention), but I’m certain that this gathering would forge the necessary tools required to realize our objective of delivering our promises to our constituents," Revilla said.

The league is set to elect its new set of officers, and draft resolutions to be presented to the executive and legislative branches for consideration as priority legislation.