Iloilo Gov. Defensor’s SOPA highlights 3 foreign donors

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Governor Arthur Defensor, Sr. on Tuedsay delivered his state of the province address, or SOPA, and recognized three foreign aids received by the Iloilo provincial government for health, infrastructure, agricultural and tourism projects.

Defensor cited the P300-million grant of the Korean International Cooperation Agency for the improvement and delivery of basic health services in remote towns of Iloilo province.

Two months ago, KOICA donated P14.7-million worth of basic emergency obstetrics and newborn care equipment that were immediately distributed to the rural health units: the Aleosan District Hospital in Alimodian town, the Jesus M. Colmenares District Hospital in Balasan and the Dr. Ricardo S. Provido, Sr. Memorial District Hospital in Calinog.

The governor said: “KOICA is helping us not only in the enhancement of our hospitals but also in the rehabilitation and development of our ports, particularly those damaged by Yolanda. Among these are the fish-cum-terminal ports of Carles, Concepcion and Estancia towns in northern Iloilo.”

A team of experts, headed by KOICA vice president Doo Jungsoo, came to inspect and validate the needs of these ports late last year and, upon seeing it, “committed to me the amount to US$10 million for this undertaking,” he said.

Defensor also thanked the government of Canada for turning over P6 million worth of technical assistance, through the Local Government Support Program for Local Economic Development, for the development of the tourism industry in northern Iloilo.

The program, called Rebuilding Economic Opportunities for Sustainable Tourism in Northern Iloilo, was designed to help identified communities develop their capacity to formulate strategies that will improve their livelihood, with tourism as a major economic driver.

“This will be managed by the our recently established Local Economic Development and Investment Promotion Unit, which also provides technical assistance to the Integrated Central Iloilo Alliance on Economic Development in setting up an agricultural information system,” said the governor.

Defensor further said the World Bank, through the Department of Agriculture, helped the province improve the farm-to-market roads networks, and it will be investing for the concreting of a 28-kilometer road in Passi City. (FREEMAN)