Senate wannabes vow to improve plight of Samar’s poor families

CATBALOGAN CITY, Samar, Feb. 29 -- Senatorial candidates from different parties promised a better future for impoverished Samar province.

Samar, the country’s 10th poorest province with a poverty incidence of 43.5 percent, has 490,421 registered voters for the May 9, 2016 elections.

Former Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla, who chaired the Eastern Visayas Regional Development Council during his term as Leyte governor said the government has been pouring more resources to Samar areas than in Leyte, but it is not enough.

“I will push for more development projects in Samar as your Waray-speaking senator. I am with you not just this campaign period, but after elections as well,” Petilla said.

His partymate, former Justice Secretary Leila de Lima vowed to work to bring justice to human rights victims in the province, specifically in Calbayog City where she provided legal services as lawyer.

Former Metro Manila Development Authority chairman Francisco Tolentino wooed Samar voters with a platform of empowering local government units to be able to respond to basic needs. 

Free tuition fee is Rep. Sherwin Gatchalian’s top priority once elected in the Senate.

Leyte first district Rep. Ferdinand Romualdez agreed with Petilla for a need to elect a senator from Eastern Visayas.

“We are the poorest region and we have a population of four million, representing four percent of the national total. That means, we need at least four percent share of the national budget,” Romualdez said.

Panfilo Lacson, the former post-Yolanda rehabilitation czar, promised to push for the creation an agency that will focus on post-disaster response in the country.

All of them spoke before hundreds of students of the Samar State University and the crowd in front of the provincial capitol. They were ushered by local officials through a motorcade after the press briefing.

National candidates visited Samar province as invited by Rep. Milagrosa Tan during the solon’s birthday on Feb. 25. (PNA)
JMC/SQM/LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA