Pampanga LGU seeks to build new growth hub

| PHOTO: WILLIE O. LOMIBAO

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO— A counter-magnet to Metro Manila is Gov. Dennis Pineda’s vision for Pampanga.

“Given the major problems that Metro Manila faces due to congestion, Pampanga’s strategic location makes it an alternate center of growth and development,” he said. “It is near, it has well-established connectivity, and it is prepared to cater to investors and businesspeople.”

With those pluses, he said the provincial government would need to sustain efforts to make the localities clean, safe and resilient for progress.

“I want to continue supporting the business sector by putting more important infrastructure alongside digital transformation and boosting the tourism industry. That, in a nutshell, is my 12-point agenda,” explained the governor, who is serving his second term.

To accomplish the vision, Pineda said he would sustain the capitol’s partnership with government agencies, private and business sectors, civil society organizations, academe and communities.

He said priorities are in the labor force, local industries and businesses, and the agricultural sector. The ongoing construction of the province’s agricultural complex will complete the warehouses, rice millers, trucks and other equipment for farmers.

Health programs

CAPITOL FOR THE POOR Those in need come to the Pampanga capitol, asking the provincial government for help and services. Gov. Dennis Pineda devotes Mondays to meet patients or their relatives to give them guarantee letters to pay off balances in hospital bills or financial assistance for surgery, other medical procedures or medicines. —PHOTO FROM PAMPANGA PIO

The provincial government, he noted, is strong on health programs like the Alagang Nanay Preventive Health Care, while its social assistance is biased toward vulnerable groups, including farmers having three hectares of land or less.

“Kapag malusog at kuntento po ang mga mamamayan, magiging productive at masagana ang ekonomiya natin (If our citizens are healthy and content, our economy will flourish),” the 49-year-old governor said. “I call that health equity.”

According to his assessment, the local industries that need further push are food, quarry and tourism.

Attracting investors needs seamless connectivity to growth centers, markets and human resources via roads, bridges, highways, railways and airports with the help of the national government, he said.

Investors are being drawn through a stable peace and order situation and an efficient disaster risk reduction program.

Compared to other provinces, Pampanga makes for a good investment destination because its strategic location is enhanced by the seaport and airports in Subic (Zambales) and Clark freeports, expressways and a soon-to-be-finished railway, said Pineda.

“Of course, our people’s good traits—being hospitable, educated and imbued with good values—are attractive to investors,” he added. INQ