BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said the last State of the Nation Address of President Rodrigo Duterte revealed his hopes upon his assumption of office, the achievements of his administration, the challenges during his term, and how the pandemic forced him to respond with urgency to the unprecedented events as they unfold.
Lacson said his abhorrence of lawlessness, criminality, corruption, and illegal drugs, was apparent, adding that Duterte was also pleased with the gains of the National Task Force to End Local Communist Insurgency or NTF-ELCAC.
His response to the Covid-19 crisis, his call for rebound and recovery programs, the retooling and upscaling of workers for better job opportunities is decisively pivotal, Lacson said.
“I am also with the President in his plan to pursue the creation of the Center for Disease Prevention and Control and the Virology and Vaccine Institute for the Philippines,” he added.
Lacson rated the performance of Duterte as eight, from a scale of one to 10.
He said he also joined the President in his earnest plea for every Filipinos to get vaccinated. “At this point, getting vaccinated has gone beyond the question of choice, it has now become our moral obligation.”
Flosemer Chris Gonzales, spokesperson of the Regional Task Force 6-ELCAC, said that they will strive to put an end to the 52 year-old insurgency, by bringing basic social services to the grassroots level, building roads to far-flung barangays, winning the hearts and minds of the masses, depriving the communist terrorist groups of their lairs, safe havens and community bases, before Duterte steps down in June 30 next year.
‘LOST CAUSE’
Gonzales called on the CPP-NPA-NDF remnants to abandon their lost cause and dying ideology. He assured them that the administration of Duterte will not leave them behind.
“We will ensure that you and your families will be provided with adequate livelihood, a peaceful community, and hope for a better future,” he added.*
