RDC chair says EV solon block beneficial to development programs

(During the last Regional Development Council Meeting in Tacloban City, Mayor Sarmiento was interviewed by LSDE's Ahlette Reyes. Here's Ahlette's report taken from the LSDE website)

TACLOBAN CITY - Regional Development Council Chairman and Calbayog City Mayor Mel Senen Sarmiento said the solid group of Eastern Visayas congressmen in the House of Representatives would prove more beneficial to the different development programs being pushed for by the council.

Mayor Sarmiento said during the recently held RDC meeting that the gathering of congressmen from the different districts in Eastern Visayas last May 6 in Manila, a gathering initiated by the RDC itself, was a very historic meeting with the region’s congressmen updated on the development direction of the region and consulted for their recommendations.

“More than what the governors, the mayors and the regional offices can do, our congressmen can help a lot through their funds in helping the region realize our many and different programs and projects,” Mayor Sarmiento said in an interview with the local media.

Eleven out of 12 congressmen from Eastern Visayas were present during the said gathering in Manila, where the legislators were presented with the regional development plan while allowing the congressmen to present their comments and recommendations on these proposals.

Only Leyte First District Representative Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, according to Sarmiento, was not in attendance during the gathering as he was part of President Arroyo’s party in her visit to Bicol recently.

Apart from the regional development plan, what was also presented to the congressmen, it was learned, was the scorecard developed by the RDC-8 where the region’s program implementation are assessed and which would then be passed to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo.

“May ada hira gin-incorporate ngada hini nga scorecard to include their own projects in the respective congressional districts.

The RDC chair believes that with most of the Eastern Visayas congressmen holding vice-chairman seat in the different House committees, they would be able to pull more for the region’s projects especially on the financial aspect.

“I have urged our congressmen to look beyond our political boundaries. If its for the good of the region whether it falls or not within her or his jurisdiction buligan naton kay aton man la gihapon ini,” Sarmiento added. (AHLETTE C. REYES)