MAASIN CITY (PIA) — Two lawmakers from both houses of Congress have committed to provide support for more development projects that benefit the great majority of the people in the city and the province through their respective intervention in whatever way each of them can do.
Speaking as invited guests during the celebration of the 24th Founding Anniversary of Maasin City on Saturday, August 10, at the city gym, Senator Imee Marcos said she had poured some P31 million to the people in practically all of the municipalities and city through the Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), a project implemented by the Department of Social Welfare and Development.
Another P30 million was released for Conditional Matching Grant for Provinces (CMGP), an infrastructure program coursed through the Department of the Interior and Local Government, Sen. Marcos announced, as she requested Gov. Damian Mercado to follow up and provide an update of this kind of assistance.
Marcos also reported having sponsored a bill in the Senate for transforming the entire province into a tourism zone, a counterpart measure of a move pushed in the Lower House by First District Rep. Luz Mercado.
She said she has been visiting the city and other towns in the province for several years now on certain occasions, adding that the place is close to her family.
“Masyado kayong malapit sa pamilya namin, panahon ng tatay ko, and siyempre, I love Leyte and Southern Leyte kay akon mama Bisaya gihapon… Happy birthday, Maasin City,” the senator said, drawing cheers from a full house city gym of about 5,000 individuals attending the ceremony.
(You are very close to our family, during the time of my father, and of course I love Leyte and Southern Leyte because my mother was also a Bisaya…)
Deputy House Speaker Rep. Camille Villar, another invited guest, likewise professed her family’s kinship with the city and province.
“From the time of my papa, Sen. Manny Villar, my mom Sen. Cynthia Villar, and my brother Mark Villar, we have always loved and supported the people of Maasin and we look forward to bringing more help. Lahat po ng tulong na maaari naming ibigay, kasama po kami sa pag-unlad; lahat ng programa ka-partner po ang pamilya namin,” the young Villar declared.
(All the assistance that we can give, we are with you in your development; in all the programs our family will be your partner.)
She affirmed an earlier announcement made by City Mayor Nacional Mercado, who introduced her as the next guest speaker, saying that his brother Mark had, indeed, set aside funds for the construction of the city’s world-class sports complex in barangay Tam-is.
On August 10, 2000, Republic Act No. 8796, the law converting the Municipality of Maasin into the City of Maasin, was ratified in a plebiscite by an overwhelming “yes” vote of 92% from more than 33,000 voters, a turnout of 68%, City Vice Mayor Maloney Samaco shared in a social media post.
Over the past 24 years, the city’s visible progress in terms of economic boom was evident with the coming of big investors mostly in the retail business and fast food outlets.
These are complemented by ongoing big-ticket projects that promised to change the landscape of the city for a selfie-perfect shoot, such as an expanding reclaimed area, the coastal bypass road, the hillside road, and some private and public vertical structures at the city’s central area.
This year’s celebration was marked by a huge boost from the religious sector, as the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) declared the centuries-old Cathedral a national shrine, further cementing the reputation of the place as a religious, pilgrimage city. (MMP, PIA Southern Leyte, with reports from the Dah Journalist/Photos courtesy of LGU Maasin City)
