Manila Mayor Isko Moreno Domagoso fulfilled his promise to visit the birthplace of his mother and vowed to bring the long-overdue development of Samar if elected president.
Speaking before thousands of Samareňos in the municipality of Allen, the Aksyon Demokratiko presidential candidate said he is very happy to have finally visited the town where his mother Rosario Moreno, whom he fondly calls Nanay Chayong, was born.
“I told the campaign team, if we are going to tour officially, if I am going to tour in the Visayas, can you please let me go first to Samar, here I will start all my rounds in the Visayas. It was like homecoming as a tribute to my parents,” Moreno said.
Moreno and his running mate, Doc Willie Ong, as well as Aksyon senatorial candidates Dr. Carl Balita, Samira Gutoc and Jopet Sison, have previously scheduled the Samar visit in December last year, but were forced to postpone because of Typhoon Odette and the subsequent Omicron surge.
The 47-year-old presidential aspirant pointed out that while he is born, raised and started his public service in Tondo, it cannot be denied that the blood running in his veins is 100 percent Bisaya, as his father hails from Antique.
However, while he is happy to have finally set foot on the place where his mother was born, he is also sad to see the result of the decades-long neglect from the national government that has made Samar one of the poorest islands in the country, and which forced its residents, like his Nanay Chayong, to seek greener pastures in Manila.
“Why go to Manila, there is a lot of land here. There is a lot that can be fixed here. I notice that Samar, I have been to several towns and passed through, as if the government has turned its back on you. Even at your airport, I feel sorry for you. Wherever you can see the airport, there is a cow crossing,” Moreno lamented.
“Remember, the last time, the last time you had a national candidate was in the 1950’s. You have already won many presidents, you have also elected many senators, Pedro, look at Samar. You are the ones who answer, you are the ones who judge, I don’t want a fight,” he said.
Given the chance, Moreno vowed to end this decades-long neglect of Samar by pursuing a “Life and Livelihood” economic policy that aims to address poverty, hunger, unemployment, inequality, and social injustice through an inclusive and equitable infrastructure development program as spelled out under his 10-point Bilis Kilos Economic Agenda.
“Doc Willie and I, for example, bless me, Doc Wilie, the three of us, with God’s help, and with your help, the first two years of the six years, our only focus, life, and livelihood. Just there,” he said.
In a subsequent media interview, Moreno said among the infrastructure programs he wanted to pursue in the region is to connect Allen, Samar to Matnog, Sorsogon through a 24-kilometer bridge across the San Bernardino Strait, similar to the main bridge connecting Macau and Hong Kong.
“Those are the things that are duplicable that may generate more economic movement for the entire Samar area all the way to Leyte,” he said.
“Because when we connect Luzon and the biggest island, which is Samar, everything will be easier, the cost will be cursed, there will be a transaction, there will be an economic movement. Then, there will be jobs and job opportunities for our countrymen in the province,” he said.
He said this in line with his goal to infuse more infrastructure development in provinces of Visayas and Mindanao where they are most needed in order to accelerate the economy and bring about a more inclusive and equitable economic growth.
“Like I have said before, a peso spent in Metro Manila will never give us much economic growth because of the principle of the Law of Diminishing Returns. But the same peso that I will spend in the far-flung area, it will create economic movement, favorably in the passing areas. So those are our priorities,” Moreno stressed.
“Then again in the next six years, the first two years of our tenure, with the mercy of God and with the help of man, the first two years, the focus is life and livelihood. We will first cross the people, the people in this pandemic,” he said.
Moreno was welcomed in Allen by Mayor Joey Suan and Vice Mayor Arturo Dubongco Jr., as well as members of the municipal council.
Dubongco later introduced Mayor Isko as “our countryman, the only Waraynon presidential candidate” to wild cheering from the thousands of Allen residents who came to see and hear their “townmate.”
Prior to his visit in Allen, Moreno and his team barnstormed in Calbayog City and Catbalogan City in Western Samar, as well as Catarman in Northern Samar.
And just like what happened in every place that Team Isko went since Day 1 of the campaign, the Aksyon Demokratiko presidential bet has been mobbed by droves of people – of all ages and of all walks of life – who ignored the heat and rain to express their genuine and unbridled support behind Moreno.
Everywhere Moreno’s motorcade proceeded, thousands of screaming and cheering supporters warmly welcome him with open arms as they jostle for position in the crowded streets, all trying to shake or just touch the hands of the charismatic presidential candidate.