Bicol group seeks party-list seat

MANILA, Philippines - The Bicolano group Organization of Regional Advocates for Good Governance Onward Nation-Building (ORAGON) is eyeing a slot in the House of Representatives in the May 2010 polls to represent the marginalized sector and work for the development of poor regions, especially in Bicol region.

This, after ORAGON got accreditation from the Commission on Elections as a party-list group that can vie for a seat in the Lower House.

The group said it will seek to find creative solutions to alleviate poverty in the countryside with initial poverty alleviation to focus on the typhoon-battered Bicol Region.

ORAGON noted that Bicol region is the second poorest region nationwide, after the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

The group said it is a a non-profit multi-sectoral association of empowered professionals, senior citizens, educators, public servants, market vendors, workers, farmers, fisherfolk, tricycle and padyak drivers and the youth who share a common vision for Bicolandia as a self-reliant and sustainable economic region.