Mindanaotoday.com | DILG records reveal MisOcc poverty, crime rates dive
By: Uriel Quilinguing
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Crime incidence in Misamis Occidental has decreased by 11 percent in the past five months, compared to the first five months this year, records from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) show.
“We have the records with us,” said Interior and Local Government Secretary Benjamin Abalos on Wednesday, Nov. 30, during the conferment of Outstanding Misamison Awards at the Bayfront Resort in Oroquieta City.
Abalos said that incidentally, poverty levels which the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) released lately also showed an 11-percent reduction in Misamis Occidental, the basis for the computation was culled from three cities and 14 towns.
He said Northern Mindanao, which includes Misamis Occidental, has already posted a 5.3 percent in gross regional domestic product, a quick recovery from an economic meltdown due to the coronavirus pandemic lockdowns and restrictions.
“Your track record will speak for itself,” said the former mayor of Mandaluyong City, who was then president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, referring to Governor Henry Oaminal’s nine-year performance as member of the House of Representatives and served as deputy speaker.
Abalos was also in Congress representing Mandaluyong and was chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) prior to his appointment to the DILG, an agency that serves as the repository of all data and information from local governments.
Oaminal, in his capsulized report to the DILG chief earlier, said that in five months the foundations for the future are in place for every provincial resident to live “peacefully, progressively, and happily.”
The 64-year old provincial chief executive is serving his first three-year term of office at the Capitol in Oroquieta, the province’s capital city. He is a former vice-governor.
Good governance
“In due time, on peace and order, the province would be drug-free, crime-free, and insurgency-free,” the lawyer and businessman turned politician said, adding that an 18-million-peso building would soon rise for a 500-bed capacity provincial government-managed medical center.
This, he said, would be a transformation of the existing 150-bed Misamis Occidental Provincial Hospital in Oroquieta to take in more patients in times of disease outbreaks.
Oaminal said they are also taking into account PSA statistics that 74 percent for the provincial product accounts come from services, 13 percent from agricultural, forestry and fisheries, and the remaining 13 from industries.
“We want to be in the investment and tourism maps,” the provincial chief executive said, adding that they intend to provide adequate support for farm production and invite investors in agribusiness ventures.
He said farm implements, including hand-tractors, must be provided to farmers free of charge, fertilizers subsidized, and credit and post-harvest facilities made accessible.
Oaminal said the existing agri-aqua-tourism come-on at the coastal areas of Tudela and Sinacaban towns must be diversified and enhanced to become a Maldives-like Misamis Occidental Resort and Aguamarine Park.
The governor, however, warned all local government officials the principles of “good governance” would be strictly observed, even as he announced that a mayor and a vice mayor have been suspended lately for irregular purchase of an equipment.
“Aside from being second-hand, it was overpriced,” he said, but refrained from publicly identifying who and which local government.
Good examples
Meanwhile, Abalos said the recipients of Outstanding Misamisnon plaques, which was one of the highlights of the 93rd Charter Anniversary of Misamis Occidental province, should inspire the young and future generation to strive for excellence.
Lawyer Ivan John Enrile Uy from Ozamiz City who was recently appointed by the President as secretary of the Department of Information and Communication Technology was top of the list of the honorees.
Roughly two-thirds of the 50 “Outstanding Misamisnons” were from police and military services, graduates either from Philippine Military Academy (PMA) or from the Philippine National Police Academy (PNPA).
Abalos, in his congratulatory message, paid respect to the late Lt. Col. Dennis B. Villanueva of Oroquieta, PMA Class 1986, who was killed-in-action after saving all his men, including the wounded, in an offensive against Nur Misuari’s breakaway group in 2005.
Villanueva was commanding officer of the 53rd Infantry Battalion, Philippine Army whose area of responsibility covers Sulu and Basilan.
Among the PNPA graduates recognized are retired Col. Edward Abejuela of Clarin town, Class 1987, whose last assignment was Director for Personnel and Records Management at Camp Crame, Quezon City; and Col. Danildo Tumanda of Oroquieta City, Class 1995, currently Deputy Director for Operations, Police Regional Office 10 at Camp Alagar, Cagayan de Oro City.
Those who excel in public service, international cooperation, and entertainment are among the awardees.
These include Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Rolando Uy for public service, who for years was village chief of Carmen, and was member of the House of Representatives. He hails from Bonifacio town, Misamis Occidental.
Bobby Olarte, New York, USA-based Inter-Country Cooperation senior adviser of the United Nations Population Fund; and singer Eunice Cez Encarnada (Oroquieta), silver medalist in this year’s 25th World Championships in Performing Arts have also been acknowledged for bringing prestige and honor to the province.
There were posthumous awards handed to surviving family members of notable Misamisnons, that of Senator Jose Ozamiz, Health Secretary Hilarion Ramiro Sr., Education Secretary Ricardo Gloria, and Assemblyman Henry Regalado, among others.
Recognizing those who excel in their respective fields as icons is laudable move, the DILG top official said. (MT)
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