POLANGUI, Albay – Newly elected Albay 3rd District Rep. Raymond Adrian Salceda has vowed to push for the modernization of the sickly Albay Electric Cooperative (Aleco), a festering problem that has continuously dragged the progress of Albay despite its vast renewable energy resources potentials.
Salceda also promised to work hard and strive to solve the perennial problem of water scarcity in many areas of his district and help modernize agriculture, being the main source of livelihood of his constituency. He said he will also bring in massive state investments in tourism infrastructures and facilities and on programs that will promote agro-ecotourism in Ligao City.
“We will push to make Ligao a modern city,” he stressed, adding that he plans to set up his district office in Ligao, being at the center of the third district. He also pledged quality flood control projects in the area to solve the flooding problems which have been the source of woes for farmers whose farmlands were always inundated, especially in the towns of Oas, Polangui and Libon.
These developments, he said, will help push the full internationalization of the Bicol International Airport operations, which is situated in Daraga town, but has been a top priority under the ‘Global Albay’ program plan laid out by his father, 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda, which he will likewise now pursue.
“The success of the BIA will also be the success of my district, and the entire province,” said the lawmaker, now the outgoing Polangui mayor and president of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Albay Chapter. He won the recent elections based on his strong HEART 4S platform, which strategy has also successfully propelled his town, and now the growth of his district.
Salceda’s HEART 4S program focuses on H-Health; E-Education; A-Agriculture; R-Rural Infrastructure; T-Tourism, Trade and Transportation (HEART). Its 4S component includes Social Services, Senior Citizens and Solo Parents, Small and Micro Enterprises, and Sports and Youth Development.
His top priority, however, now veers towards a more pressing problem, the modernization of Aleco. To modernize the power cooperative, Salceda said he commits to help put up one substation every in every municipality in the entire province, starting with his district — “so a fault in one town doesn’t affect neighboring municipalities.”
Salceda said there is a need to negotiate with PGPC [Philippine Geothermal Production Company] and the EDC [Energy Development Corporation] for microgrids in Tiwi and Manito, respectively. Several substations in the towns of Camalig, Daraga, Santo Domingo and Rapu-rapu were already erected by his father, outgoing 2nd District Rep. Joey Sarte Salceda.
The young lawmaker said Aleco has a P1.2 billion national subsidy. He assured he will work things out for the remaining P600 million required to complete the P1.8 billion needed for Aleco’s full modernization. The Department of Energy has also approved some 1,000-MW renewable energy projects in Albay, and has assured it will assist project proponents in project implementation.
For the full BIA Internationalization, he said he will help to restore direct international flights and actively court regional airlines and make BIA the secondary international gateway in South Luzon.
On Port Containerization, Salceda’s priorities are as follows: Containerization of the Pantao town port to unlock the district’s real export capacity and scale up the Pioduran port for trade with Masbate and Quezon provinces, which will reduce shipping costs for producers and open Albay to global trade;
Operationalization of the Pantao ecozone which targets agri-processing, renewable energy, and export-oriented investors under CREATE MORE [Corporate Recovery and Tax Incentives for Enterprises to Maximize Opportunities for Reinvigorating the Economy];
Help in the expansion of EQUAL [Education Quality for Albayanos] / AHECS [Albay Higher Education Contribution Scheme], to benefit more Private School Students and redirect proportionally some of them to Techvoc; help launch AHECS 2.0 to provide tuition support to poor students in private higher education, as well as target the top 10% in SHS to take up teaching careers.
