Partido Reporma standard bearer Senator Panfilo “Ping” Lacson on Friday lauded Sorsogon Governor Francis “Chiz” Escudero for putting the province in the forefront of development despite the negative impact of the Covid-19 pandemic to the country’s local tourism.
In a post on Twitter, Friday, Lacson praised Escudero’s sterling performance as local chief executive barely three years since he became governor of Sorsogon in 2019.
“Amazing Sorsogon! What Governor Chiz Escudero and his team have accomplished in just three years can easily surpass several others who have served in their provinces for at least three terms. Tito and I saw it for ourselves yesterday,” Lacson said.
Lacson and his running mate Senate President Vicente “Tito” Sotto III were in Sorsogon on Thursday as part of their tandem’s campaign sortie in the Bicol region.
Escudero, who is seeking a new six-year term in the Senate in the May 2022 elections, personally welcomed the tandem and hosted a media conference for the visiting senators.
The Lacson-Sotto tandem has adopted Escudero as part of their senatorial slate. The local chief executive has served two terms in the Senate from 2007 to 2019 during the 14th to 17th Congress and is now the only incumbent governor running for a seat in the upper chamber.
As the province closed its doors to local and foreign visitors due to lockdowns that were imposed at the height of the pandemic, Escudero took it as an opportunity to implement construction and rehabilitation of various infrastructure projects, such as the new 5.52-kilometer Sorsogon Coastal Road which was inaugurated in August 2020.
Under his watch, all units of the provincial government, including all the nine hospitals under the Sorsogon Provincial Health Office, are now ISO-certified.
Even at the height of the pandemic, the province has also successfully managed to control the spread of Covid-19 as more than half of its 541 barangays were spared.
Among the projects completed during the pandemic include the new offices of the Civil Service Commissions (CSC), the Provincial Veterinary Office and Animal Shelter, the Philippine Fiber Industry Authority (PhilFIDA), and the opening of the province’s first isolation and treatment facility for COVID-19 and other communicable diseases to strengthen the provincial government’s health capability and response.
Sorsogon is also set to start the construction of a “Home for the Homeless Gays” which will cater to the abandoned members of the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) community, another first in Sorsogon. The haven will also have a livelihood training center for the LGBT to help them earn a living.
The province also saw the rehabilitation and beautification of its landmark tourist attractions, such as the completion of the American-era Provincial Capitol, the establishment of the Museo ng Sorsogon, the restoration of the 19th century Barcelona Church and the expansion of the Bulusan Natural Park, which is set to reopen this week.
Lacson and Sotto said they hope to replicate Sorsogon’s success to other developing provinces nationwide should they win in the upcoming May 2022 elections.
“ISO-certified ‘yung probinsya, seven municipalities plus the province, ISO rin. And ‘yung police provincial office, best provincial office ng PNP. So, ano pa ‘yung masasabi natin? Talagang success story, ika nga. And sabi ko nga, a lot (of it) has to do with leadership (The province is ISO-certified, seven municipalities plus the province are also ISO-certified, including the police provincial office, best provincial office of the PNP. So what else can we say? It really is a success story. And as I said, it has a lot to do with leadership),” Lacson said.