Knowing the BS’s storied streak of vengeance, political observers readily assumed the worst for Pampanga. And for a time it seemed so.
Surprise, surprise. Gov. Lilia G. Pineda suddenly materializing in the last State of the Nation Address, attesting to the President’s goodness: “P400 million ang ginagastos ng probinsiya para pantulong sa mga may sakit. Pero nang magkaroon ng Sin Tax, binago iyung package. Imagine iyung P400 million na savings na pumupunta para sa mga birthing stations at health centers. Kaya nagpapasalamat ako kay President Aquino sa kanyang pag-aalaga sa may sakit.”
More surprises most pleasant came in Pineda’s own State of the Province Address last week: The tsunami of billions of pesos in programs and projects the Aquino administration unleashed on Pampanga since the Nanay took over in 2010.
How PNoy loves Pampanga, the governor most gloriously counted the ways – and means – in her SOPA.
P860,380,087 from the Department of Health, P525,581,700 of which went to the construction or improvement of public hospitals, birthing stations, and rural health units throughout the province, as part of the department’s Health Facility Enhancement Program.
P37,892,115.10 under the Special Program for the Employment of Students and P22,589,137.60 for the Integrated Livelihood and Emergency Program from the Department of Labor and Employment.
P487,919,758 from the National Housing Authority, to include the P14 million for the Nabuclod Housing for Aeta Community in Floridablanca, P236 million for various resettlement projects and assistance, and P237 million for the construction of community facilities.
P4.35 billion from the Department of Public Works and Highways, covering the national road and network services worth P2.38 billion, flood management services of P1.21 billion, maintenance and construction services of other infrastructures at P600 million, and other local infrastructure projects costing P147.8 million.
P1.19 billion from the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program directly benefiting 51,416 indigent Kapampangan families.
P1.14 billion worth of school facilities from the Department of Education.
P53.7 million worth of scholarships and financial aid from the Commission on Higher Education.
P188 million worth of scholarships and trainings provided by the Technical Education and Skills Development Authority.
So much funds from the national government accruing to Pampanga there. The enormity of which the governor’s most detailed accounting rendered with an even greater impact.
A revelation: His public abomination of the province’s most illustrious daughter notwithstanding, the BS made good his word in October 2012, though spoken from a partisan platform: “Give me a chance to help you. I cannot let Pampanga be left behind in the progress that is being attained by the Philippines.”
How the President really helped!
Love begets love, so it has long been cliched. But still so real.
Pineda has returned the favour to the national government in ways deemed unprecedented – the local government unit helping fund the construction and renovation of national government buildings.
P43 million for the Pampanga Hall of Justice which earned praises from Chief Justice Ma. Lourdes Sereno.
P10 million for the Pampanga LTO Driver’s Licensing Office.
P10 million for the soon to be finished construction of the building housing the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency.
P200-million one-hectare lot donation to the Bureau of Internal Revenue.
No mean feat there. So have your heard of any province doing similar things?
Amor con amor se paga. As in life, so in governance. And the Kapampangan could not be any happier. And prouder.
