Gov. Fua rebuts TV docu degrading Siquijor Prov.

SIQUIJOR, SIQUIJOR, Philippines — Governor Orlando Fua Jr., in his annual state of the province address (SOPA) on Monday, assailed the documentary aired on a national TV last week of February exposing life situation of Siquijodnon people under his leadership and that of the Fua family.

The governor fired back against the claims that Siquijodnons’ progress has been obstructed due to Fua’s political interest as pointed out by National Anti-Poverty Commission Secretary Joel Rocamora, who happens to be a Siquijodnon also.

Fua said the province really moved forward through his leadership as governor and those of his family: His father Orlando Sr is a congressman, his brothers Orville, a provincial board member, and Orpheus, mayor of Lazi town, and his son Orlando III, president of the Provincial SK Federation.

“The statistical figure used by the documentary was 2003 and from this year the state of our province for the last eight years was not included. Based on the United Nations Development Program’s Philippine Human Development Report, Siquijor province is 3rd in economic growth and no. 1 in the increase of per capita income from all municipalities the whole Philippines. From no. 58 with other provinces in 2003, we went up to no. 31 in 2008 and has been recognized as no. 1 in economic governance,” said the governor.

“Siquijor owns up to the lowest crime rate in the country based on PNP situation report. There is no kidnapper, snatcher, beggar, squatter, prostitute or even street children,” he told the audience.

“Last survey of the National Statistical Coordination Board, we are far beyond numbers of poor from 33 provinces in the country. Here in Central Visayas (Region 7), our rating is higher than Negros Oriental and Bohol, Fua said.

“If we must assess what we are today, it is necessary that we take stock of whom and what were yesterday. If the Fuas have become synonymous with obstruction to progress, we will kindly ask if there ever has been a point of time in the past that can be claimed to be more prosperous for Siquijor than today,” said the governor.

Fua said his father had practically spend half of his life defending martial law victims after being appointed OIC governor in 1987, while Rocamora has spent almost half his life abroad coming home only in 1992 but making his appearance only in Siquijor since last year. 

“Let us make 1987 as the benchmark by which we look at how we were before (his father’s) entry into the service of his fellow Siquijodnons, and that thereafter, how Siquijor had fared,” Fua said.

The governor clarified that he respects everyone’s right to criticize. “But this criticism shall never dissuade us from serving our people in the best manner that my God and my conscience will permit me to. I shall stand by the courage of my conviction and continue serving our people,” he said. 

Fua’s SOPA, delivered at the Capitol’s Sunken Garden in this capital town of Siquijor, was also a summary of programs and projects he implemented for the last three years, namely on agriculture, hospital services, infrastructures, education, and tourism development, among others.

The governor vowed to continue tourism promotions, citing the increase of tourist’s arrivals to the province over the past years. “Statistics showed that 123,864 tourists visited Siquijor in 2011, up by 18.5 percent over the recorded 104,474 tourists that visited in 2009,” he said.

“We are now the leading tourist destination in Region 7 in terms of percentage, with officially recorded tourist arrivals of 340,996 during the last three years,” Fua added. - THE FREEMAN