House Committee on Ways and Means chairperson and Albay Rep. Joey Salceda on Monday said that if Filipinos wanted to have a good economy they should vote for Vice President Leni Robredo and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte.
Salceda went to Zamboanga City and Cagayan de Oro City and urged voters to support Ro-Sa or Robredo and Sara.
Salceda said he respects support for other candidates but that he “will argue for certain candidates, as an economist, as a legislator, and as someone who has recently turned a senior citizen, who wants to leave a better country for the next generations.”
At the same time, Salceda called on Robredo and Duterte to continue the railway project from Manila to Bicol and the Mindanao Railway project.
“I ask Ro-Sa to complete the PNR line to Bicol and the Mindanao Railway. These two lines will change the game for our people, especially farmers,” Salceda said.
Salceda also asked Ro-Sa to “wage war against poverty, as Bicol and Mindanao both continue to have more people in poverty than the national average.”
“We have managed to create pockets of prosperity, such as VP Leni’s Naga City, in my own province of Albay, and in Mayor Sara’s Davao City. But we need to do more,” he added.
Salceda also underscored the need to develop the agricultural sector in Bicol, Mindanao, and the rest of the countryside.
“Bicol has seen its abaca growing sector decimated in the past. Its coconut industry has declined. Mindanao’s bananas are under threat of disease, and its corn has extremely limited markets. These are crops where the country was globally competitive in the past. Through decades of neglect and failure to innovate, we have lost our edge in these areas. These are cash crops, bound for export. If we are going to earn our dollars and lift farmers out of poverty, we need a renewed commitment to developing these sectors,” Salceda explained.
He said Duterte’s work in building Davao City’s cacao industry should be the model for the future of the country’s agriculture.
Salceda said Robredo’s platform for a Blue Economy will help lift fisherfolks out of poverty.
