BY CARLA P. GOMEZ
Monday, October 29, 2018

Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos (5th from left) with mayors Marvin Malacon, Mark Golez, and Neil Lizares, Rep. Alfredo Benitez, mayors Andrew Montelibano and Francis Frederick Palanca, and Rep. Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod) during her visit to Bacolod City, yesterday* Gilbert Bayoran photo

Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and the mayors of third district of Negros Occidental yesterday threw their support behind the Senatorial bid of Ilocos Norte Gov. Imee Marcos, who was in Bacolod City for the MassKara Festival.

Present at the meeting with Marcos and Benitez were mayors Francis Frederick Palanca – Victorias City, Marvin Malacon – EB Maglaona, Mark Golez – Silay City, Neil Lizares – Talisay City, and Andrew Montelibano - Murcia, and Rep. Stephen Paduano (Abang Lingkod).

Marcos said she is running for the Senate because there are no representatives from the countryside.

“I am the only local government official running, I bring a different perspective,” she said.

“We need representation in agriculture and innovation in the energy sector,” she said.

There is a great deal that needs to be done for the agriculture sector that has long been neglected, she said.

“Today, we import all our food and we’re paying through our nose for food that, in the end, is not even very fresh…This also depletes our foreign currency and has made the peso the worst performing among Asian currencies,” she said.

Marcos said rice is selling at P27 a kilo in her province.

The governor said she is calling for the suspension or reduction of the 12 percent value added tax amid the rising prices of goods that has caused many Filipinos to suffer.

FEDERALISM

Marcos said that while she is favor of federalism that will strengthen local government units’ responsiveness to their constituents’ needs, there are fundamental questions to the one being proposed now as it may create more bureaucratic red tape.

“What I see is all theory and legal philosophy. I have not seen any operational manual so I don’t really understand how it is going to work,” she said.

Meanwhile, Marcos described the MassKara Festival as a renowned tourist event that has become the benchmark for so many of the street festivals. The tourism and livelihood it generates had impacted on every sector of the population, she said.*CPG