I’m more competent than Pogi - Mark Cojuangco

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

LINGAYEN –Gubernatorial aspirant Mark Cojuangco declared recently here that he was more competent than his rival by belittling his experiences in business and industry.

STUMP. Former Congressman Mark Cojuangco and Calasiao Mayor Mark
Roy Macanlalay (4th and 5th from left, respectively) listen as a supporter
speaks in a grand rally held at the public plaza of Lingayen, Pangasinan
for duo's governorship and vice governorship bids. MORTZ C. ORTIGOZA

Cojuangco said his two decades of edged in age against the thirty something years old Espino is one of his comparative advantages in running the huge province.

“Malaki po ang aking kumpiyansa na sabihin sa inyong lahat si Mark Cojuangco ay magiging isang mas mahusay na gobernador kaysa kay Pogi! (I have the confidence to tell you all that Mark Cojuangco would be a better governor than Pogi!) “he told the tens of thousands of cheering leaders and supporters who attended his grand rally at the public plaza here last Monday.

Cojuangco was with his vice governorship tandem Calasiao Mayor Mark Roy Macanlalay and his ticket in the provincial board.

“Laging pangarap ko rin po iyong matuldukan na sana ang  laging pag babaha sa mga lugar ng ating probinsiya tuwing panahon ng tag ulan (It is my dream that we end the deluge in many places in our province every time there is a downpour)”

He cited how he as a three term congressman made the perennial flooding a thing of the past in the Fifth District of Pangasinan.

“Sa bayan po ng Binalonan, sa bayan ng Laoac, sa siyudad ng Urdaneta, sa bayan ng Villasis. Marami pang lugar na natuldukan na namin ang pagbaha (In the town of Binalonan, in the town of Laoac, in the city of Urdaneta, in the town of Villasis and many places where we already solved the problem of flooding)”.

He ended, he said, those herculean tasks with only a limited fund given by the government to a congressman.

He compared how a lawmaker with a measly annual seventy million pesos priority development assistance fund (PDAF) versus the three billion pesos a year budget of Governor Amado T. Espino, Jr. where the latter should have solved the flooding that haunt yearly the lives and properties of the almost three million population province.

A congressman, he explained, has no personnel to do his billing while a governor has thousands of workers to implement the projects that he wants.

“Kung iyan po na iyan sa Quinto Distrito ang nagawa ko bilang isang congressman, ano kaya ang kaya kung gawin bilang isang gobernador para sa lahat ng bayan sa ating probinsiya (If I did those projects in the Fifth District as a congressman, how much more I could do in the entire province if I am the governor of Pangasinan)”, he cited to his supporters and most of the congressmen and mayors of the 44 towns and three cities’ province who attended the stump.

He pledged too to make Pangasinan attractive to investors so her people would have jobs and better standard of living.

“With jobs here Pangasinenses no longer need to go outside the province to look for employment”.

He cited the agriculture sector as one of the areas he is going to develop.

He deplored how farmers in the province contented themselves to plant, harvest, and sell their palay and corn. He said he can put more values on these products by creating cooperatives and building post harvest facilities where banks can fund them through loan.

“Pag ginawang feeds iyan, pag pinaka-in yan sa manok, pag pinaka-in sa baboy, baboy na manok na feeds na mataas din ang halaga  ng mais. Sana ang ating magsasaka ang makinabang sa diperensiya ng presyo ng finished product kaysa raw materials. Nakita ko po iyan sa ibang probinsiya. Nakita ko po iyan sa ibang bansa. Hindi ko  pa nakita ang dahilan kung bakit hinde puweding mangyari dito sa ating probinsiya ng Pangasinan,”  said by the 58 years old son of business tycoon Eduardo “Danding” Cojuangco..

He lamented how a sea port was not built in Sual, Pangasinan and expect that an international airport would be constructed in Alaminos City.

The sea port, he cited, could generate manufacturing jobs while the airport would spike the tourism industry.

He said tourism gives employment to Pangasinenses through the Dollars, Yen, Deutsche Mark, and other currencies that foreign investors would pay them.