THE looming energy crisis and not the Supreme Court verdict on the controversial Disbursement Acceleration Program will more likely reverse the country’s economic growth and ‘senatoriable’ Valenzuela City Rep. Sherwin “Win” Gatchalian may be right.
He’s on the belief that the increasing business activities will be stifled if the energy requirements are not met. “The Philippines’ new reputation as the next Asian miracle will go to waste if economic growth cannot go hand-in-hand with energy development.
Rising industrial operations will have to be fueled with enough power supply, so a concrete blueprint to avert the looming power crisis is severely crucial if we want to keep our investors from transferring to other countries,” he warns.
Also, unemployment will likely worsen and government revenues will suffer shortfall if shops shut down and relocate to other countries.
As what the former mayor-turned-lawmaker so suggests, the country has to solve its power woes if it wants to attract more investors, locally and globally.
Energy Secretary Jericho Petilla has admitted that the country has a thin power supply in 2015 and longer rotating brownouts are expected in the summer months that usually begin in March and ends in May.
He then proposed the granting of emergency powers to the President to deal with the impending power crisis. Let’s see what our lawmakers can do with DOE’s recommendation.
NEW ROADS, MORE ROAD IMPROVEMENTS IN CALOOCAN
Caloocan Mayor Oca Malapitan leads key local in breaking ground on new roads as well as several road improvements particularly in the city’s depressed areas.
Among others, the road improvement projects stand to benefit motorists and residents of Barangay 171 Bagumbong, Barangay 173 Congressional and nearby areas. “This groundbreaking for the 10-meter wide concrete road with provisions along Saranay Avenue Extension is a culmination of months of careful planning and sound fiscal management on the part of the local government.
Residents of Bagumbong and Congressional and nearby areas will have shorter and more comfortable commute times and lesser vehicular congestion,” Mayor Malapitan says.
The mayor cites that a study on the road project revealed that the new access, once completed, will help ease vehicular traffic going to and from Bagong Silang and Deparo in Caloocan, Barangay Bignay in Valenzuela and Meycauayan in Bulacan, in addition to the stimulating commerce and local tourism in Bagumbong.
Earlier, the Malapitan administration led the groundbreaking on the site of the Caloocan City Medical Center-North which will be a two-storey building with 50-bed capacity along Susano Road.
This writer could only say that the mayor was smart enough when he handpicked highly-qualified and dedicated people to be part of his administration like Ms. Betsy Luakian, the secretary to the mayor; and Planning Officer Cesar Chavez.
The city and its people are surely in good hands, so to speak. GOOD RIDDANCE/Arlie Calalo
