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CEBU CITY: Senator Mar Roxas will be in Cebu today
and on Friday (March 14) to discuss current concerns with various
sectors and government officials.
“A lot of the problems facing
our country today are directly linked to problems of governance and
the people’s loss of faith in our institutions. Our administration
has yet to answer to a lot of the allegations thrown its way, and
the most direct way of dealing with them is to tell the truth. Tell
the truth or face the consequences,” he said.
“Nakalulungkot isipin na mas
may tiwala pa ang tao sa kanyang cellphone, na siguradong darating
ang kanyang text o ang load na pinasa, kaysa sa gobyerno. Dahil
nakita na nila kung saan-saan lang napupunta ang buwis na kanilang
ibinabayad [Its sad to realize that people trust their cellphones,
that their text messages will be deliverd, more than they can trust
government because now they know where and how taxes are being
spent],” he added.
The Liberal Party President will
also use the trip as an opportunity to discuss and explain his own
advocacies, such as the quality affordable medicines bill that is
now at the bicameral level, and a proposal to suspend the
value-added tax on oil products.
Following his arrival at
the Mactan International Airport in Cebu in the afternoon, he will
hold an open dialogue with workers at the Tsuneishi Heavy Industries
& Shipyard in the municipality of Balamban.
On Friday morning, he will be at
Pinamungajan Public Market as part of his regular palengke tour in
which he gets to inspect prices of basic goods as well as equipment
and facilities in the area, and mingle with the townsfolk in the wet
market.
He will attend the Rotary
District 3860 Conference in the evening at the Cebu International
Convention Center in Mandaue City, where he will discuss his views
on good governance. About 2,000 Rotarians representing 100 Rotary
Clubs from Visayas and Mindanao will also be present.
“On the political front, we
have an administration mired in controversy in relation to the
National Broadband Network project and now, the Spratlys dispute.
Papaano tayo dumating sa puntong ito, kung saan napakababa ang
tiwala ng mga tao sa kanilang mga opisyales? Nakita natin ang
kahinaan ng ating mga institusyon [How did we get to this point
where people have such a low regard for government officials and its
institutions?],” he said.
“We deserve better than this.
And I believe that the strength, the initiative to get past this
political crisis must come from those who are in power, and to be
able to say “No.” Madaling magsabi ng ‘Oo,’ ngunit mas
importante ang abilidad na tumaggi sa mga proyekto kagaya ng NBN
[While its easy for those in government to say ‘Yes’, what’s
more important is to have the courage to reject projects like the
NBN],” he added.
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