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Bacolod City, Philippines Monday, September 24, 2012
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NPC, LP throw support
behind Alvarez, Lacson
TRANSPARENCY IN GOV’T VOWED
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Nationalist People’s Coalition gubernatorial bet, Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez Jr., Saturday vowed to give Negrenses a pro-people, transparent and consultative brand of leadership as governor of Negros Occidental.

The province must be more responsive to the individual needs of the people, he said, citing his program called “from birth to death, from basket to casket, and from womb to tomb.”

The NPC and the Liberal Party officially threw their support behind the gubernatorial bid of Alvarez and his running mate, Eugenio Jose “Bong” Lacson, of the NPC at rites held at L’Fisher Hotel in Bacolod City Saturday, attended by about 450 people.

Rep. Henry Cojuangco (Tarlac, 1st District), brother of NPC chairman emeritusEduardo Cojuangco who was also present, declared Alvarez and Lacson the official candidates of the NPC for the top posts of the province, and administered the oath to the new members of the party.

Rep. Cojuangco said the LP and NPC have forged a partnership for the 2013 polls and an agreement is set to be signed sometime this week. He said the NPC has been working hand-in-hand with the party of President Benigno Aquino III.

Rep. Alfredo Abelardo Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District), LP Negros Occidental chairman,in behalf of the Liberal Party, also declared Alvarez and Lacson guests candidates of the LP.

“The Liberal Party is honored to have the NPC as its partner in the development and the progress of our country and province,” Benitez said.

Challenging Alvarez for the governorship is incumbent Gov.
Alfredo Marañon Jr., who is running under the United Negros Alliance.

Alvarez said he is running for governor because Marañon, who was his partner in the 2010 polls, initially had said he was not seeking reelection.

“I am loyal to my party. I have no reason to abandon or defy a party that has been supportive and also loyal to me for the past 20 years," he said, stressing that he wants to also share his own brand of governance and leadership.

He said whatever cases are hurled against his family to destroy them, only the voters can stop him from public service.

Earlier, the National Bureau of Investigation named his son, Ilog Mayor John Paul Alvarez, as one of the respondents in the murder of Kabankalan Judge Henry Arles, which he has vehemently denied.

Alvarez said he is running for governor of Negros Occidental and his team will win.

Quoting Ambassador Eduardo Cojuangco, he said “a political party that does not touch and improve the lives of the people has no reason to exist.” This will be the guidepost of his leadership, Alvarez said.

There will be transparency and accountability in all transactions under his leadership, Alvarez added.

“An open-door, no-lunch break policy will be practiced starting with the Office of the Governor,” he also said.

He also said the provincial government under his watch will not get any more loans.

“Loans are not the only answer to funding projects and programs,” he said, citing the Internal Revenue Allotment, the province’s own income and counterpart funding from various agencies of government.

Local government units and the provincial government should work together in planning projects and programs for the province, Alvarez said.

“Business and government must work together. Let us not compete with the investors in our province. My goal is to attract local and foreign investments in the field of tourism, agriculture and energy,” he also said.

He cited build-operate-and-transfer contracts and public-private partnership.

Business will be given to the businessmen, while government will focus on service to the people, he said.

Alvarez also said his priority will be education, health and employment.

We will give livelihood assistance through free dispersal, not through loans, he said.

For agriculture, he said it is important to improve all provincial and barangay roads, and provide irrigation.

Alvarez said he also intends to convert the third floor of the cyber center being built at the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City into a dormitory for students from the towns and cities of Negros Occidental.

He also said they must come up with ordinances that will fully protect the environment and natural resources of the province.

Alvarez also promised bigger fund allocations for programs of members of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

His team will bring a different kind of leadership that will be closer to the people, Alvarez said.

There will be “no division, no segregation, no preference. I will not be the leader of the South or Bong the leader of the North. There will be no Southern Negros and Northern Negros. There is only one Negros,” he said.

Lacson said it is an honor, and with great responsibility, that he accepts the nomination of NPC to be its official candidate for vice governor.

“This will not be easy ride, we all know how it is to challenge an incumbent official but united, we shall overcome,” Lacson said.

Other NPC officials at the affair were its president Frisco San Juan and secretary general Mark Leandro Mendoza.*CPG

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