18 free tractors for Sual farmers – Mayor

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SUAL – Farmers in this coal –power plant hosting town are probably the most pampered in the country if not in Pangasinan because of those expensive farm equipment subsidies given by the mayor here.

Mayor Roberto “Bing” Arcinue cited that aside from the certified, hybrid palay seeds, organic and chemical fertilizers, threshers, and others, there are 18 Kubota four wheeled farm tractors in the pipeline ready for distribution in the 19 villages.

“Nasungkit ko iyong ten na tractors, may eight pa na tractors that our town will buy,” he told Northern Watch the bonanzas he had given and he would be giving to those grateful Western Pangasinan’s peasants.

IMEE IN SUAL - Senatorial wannabe Ilocos Norte Governor Imee Marcos poses for posterity with Sual, Pangasinan Mayor Roberto “Bing” Arcinue and the first class municipal's councilor JC Arcinue before the start of the Parade and Street Dancing Contest to celebrate the town's fiesta held recently at the Municipal Seaport. Marcos, who landed No. 13 at the latest Pulse Asia’s poll, graces the event.

Arcinue hosted recently the First Farmers Night during the fiesta celebration for this year.

He said that he socialized and consulted with them at an event charged with a banquet and an orchestra that add more ambiance before the wide eyed farmers held at this burgeoning town’s gymnasium.

He said that there are many events in the local government units in Pangasinan during the fiesta nights like Balikbayan, Barangay, Alumni, others but many towns and cities in Pangasinan did not host a Farmers’ Night.

Kubota Tractor

The other projects and services given and to be given by Arcinue to the people here are brand new Toyota L-300 utility van to each of the 19 villages to help the community, brand new mini-dump truck where six are already ready for distribution this year, a newly constructed 10 bed rooms hospital with one doctor and two consultant doctors to boot and three more surgeons to be hired, free medicines to his constituents, almost all roads in this town proper and barangays are paved and concretized, 45% of the huge yearly budget goes to the salaries of this LGU’s workers where a job – order employee receives P355 a day and the department head gets P70,000 monthly in regular pay and allowances.

“I solicited ten hospital beds for our hospital, these beds are expensive,” the mayor stressed.

This town with more than P300 million annual appropriation this year is one of the richest municipalities in the country because of the more than P300 million revenues she gets every year from the annual business and real property taxes and shares from the Special Education Fund, the Philippines largest 1,218 megawatt coal fired power plant run by Team Energy here, local revenues, and the internal revenue allotment from the national government.

Arcinue said if the second 1,000 megawatt coal power plant runs by Korea Electric Power Corporation (KEPCO) constructs its plant here, this town will be the richest municipality in the Philippines and more projects will be constructed here.

“Papasok dito including school board o Special Education Fund almost P600 million si KEPCO because private. The rate of the Napocor kasi parang government iyan may special law. Real Property Tax, malaki ito P600 million including the education fund,” he stressed.

The seasoned mayor cited the deep natural water harbor here where he built a P150 million wharf, first of the three phases, he budgeted from the business and real property taxes the town collected from the business entities here.

In the last two years President Rodrigo Duterte held at the Sual Sea Warf and Causeway Area the ceremonial sent - off of Vietnamese fishermen caught sea poaching in the provincial water.

Arcinue said that after construction by the KEPCO of one of the biggest coal power plants in the country, the economic streak of this town would be unstoppable and mind boggling.

He cited the five goals he has a moist eye to bring for the phenomenal progress of this 19 villages’ town founded in 1805 are power plant, sea port, ship building, oil depot just like those in Batangas Province, and tourism hub.

This town was one of the hubs of the Spanish galleons in the 1800s where they brought their goods to trade in the Luzon’s area.