March 25, 2010
HON. SPEAKER PROSPERO C. NOGRALES
House of Representatives
Batasang Pambansa Complex
Batasan Hills, Quezon City
1126 Metro Manila
Sir:
Greetings of Peace!
I am Ryan Glenn M. Soguilon, a 4th year BS Business Administration student in the University of the Philippines Diliman. My family has been residing in the 1st District of Davao City for almost 21 years since I was born and where I was raised. I studied in the Ateneo de Davao University in elementary and in Philippine Science High School SMC in my secondary education where I grew to eventually witness the city’s rapid growth and development over the years. Through my education, I have learned to be critical in my society and am more discerning of the salient issues that we face. I strive to be relevant and possibly do something about these.
I have come to know you as the incumbent Speaker of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and the first ever elected Speaker from Mindanao in a hundred years in Philippine legislative history. It has been a personal honor that I come from the district that you govern and that you have represented our district more through your position. As the end of your term is about to end, I would like to write to you about some of my assessment of your performance as a congressman. I also want to give my inquiries regarding your term of office.
As a congressman, you had the task in looking after your district, representing their voices, and addressing their problems. I understand that these were the advocacy projects that you identified and initiated in the First District of Davao City during your term:
OPLAN ADVOCACY PROJECTS
1. Oplan Kalsada - an infrastructure development program.
2. Oplan Kaalam - an educational assistance program.
3. Oplan Kabuhayan - a livelihood and employment assistance project.
4. Oplan Kalusugan - a Health & Sanitation Project.
5. Oplan Kalikasan - an environmental project.
6. Oplan Kalinaw - a peace and order Disaster Support Program.
7. Oplan Kahayag - a Barangay Electrification Assistance program.
8. Oplan Kamao ng Kabatan - Search for Junior Pacman and Junior Prince Gabi.
9. Oplan Kalamboan sa Barangay - a Barangay Consultation Program.
Among these, I believe that the most important are the first two projects, which centered on infrastructure and education. The Oplan Kalsada has been the most implemented, in which you have allotted Php 150 million for infrastructure projects, particularly the repair and rehabilitation of the concrete dike and road concreting among the different areas in the First District, which includes our village in El Rio Vista. Social projects have been also relevant, such as medical assistance for indigent patients at the Davao Medical Center, college scholarships for poor but deserving students at the University of Southeastern Philippines, financial assistance for persons in crisis situations through DSWD, technical and vocational scholarships through TESDA, and health insurance for indigents under the Philhealth National Health Insurance Program which have been included in your projects.
You also sponsored and authored House Bills such as the HB04193, which is an act promoting the development, utilization and commercialization of clean, renewable and alternative energy resources and for other purposes, and HB02844 which is an act providing for cheaper medicines and for other purposes. These have already been approved in 2008, and I appreciate these bills that you supported as these have been essential in providing better quality living among our people. What I would like to see in the succeeding years is that these bills to be actually largely materialized and extensively implemented specifically in Davao City. It would be good if our city advocates and leads in the promotion of alternative energy sources such as ‘green’ vehicles and structures. Also, many indigent communities would benefit to cheaper medicines and hospital services that would lead to healthier city.
Performance, transparency, and accountability were the hallmarks of the reforms were launched and constituted the work ethic of the 14th congress of the house of the people. Your SONA in 2008 as a House Speaker reflect that in your latest surveys, your house was given its highest net satisfaction rating in the last two decades: a + 35. This showed an image of good performance in the House of Representative as an incumbent speaker. With these I would like to ask about the issues that might impinge your performance as a congressman. I believe these issues must be addressed to further our goals of improving our city.
Currently, there have been issues regarding the release of unreliable statistics about the mayoral race, as well as some misinformation to the people regarding the misuse in the funds for the garbage bins by the current mayor Duterte although were found to be untrue. There have also been issues regarding misappropriation of funds during your term. The public, I believe, deserves the truth about these relevant issues to our city to gain better understanding of the situation. As part of the youth critical in society, I would like to advance these views and would ask for your feedback regarding these matters. That is why in the spirit of transparency, I would like to respectfully ask for clarifications regarding these incidents. If in case they have some truth, how would you resolve them and continue to uphold meritocracy, transparency, and accountability in your office? These have been important to people in office in order to shed light to these issues which arise during your governance as a congressman in 1st District of Davao City.
Furthermore, the Legislative body of the Philippines is responsible for passing and advancing bills and laws which are relevant and vital to our nation. As the speaker of the house, I believe it is your responsibility to prioritize the most important issues and enact on them swiftly as timing is always on the essence. The Reproductive Health Bill and Agrarian Reform are some that must be addressed more timely. The bills and laws must also be objective in its inception and avoid to be mitigated in its ineffectiveness. We need stronger laws to discipline our people. Yet moreover, it is not in the passing of bills that are our sole responsibility, but though its implementation that it must be ensured. I ascertain that we have a lot of laws and regulations that are beneficial to our people, and yet are poor in its employment and execution. It is through this that we inevitably fail, that is why vigilance and advocacy must be spread across both the national and local levels. Finally, more participation from the local districts must be attained as this is the essence of the democratic process of our country in the true representation of the voice of the people. With this, more regular consultations in the local barangays, schools, and other units should be realized to identify our strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats, as well as cite issues and recommendation in the local and national level. This would bring about empowerment to the people that each one is well represented in the active building of our nation.
Particularly in our local district, I believe that Davao City needs to be at the forefront of progress and modernity in Mindanao. Your advocacies as a congressman are laudable and a sound implementation is the key to its continued success. To augment your existing activities, I urge you to work with your fellow congressmen, the local government, and the units in Davao City to become more aggressive in investing resources in the region. Our city is standing at a precipice of rapid industrialization and we want leaders to be the catalysts of this change. Davao City is awarded one of the Top 10 Future Cities in Asia, being one of the suitable cities for living along with Quezon City and Cebu City. Emulating these awarded cities, both official and the people must work rigorously and synergistically to improve our metrics.
Separate councils can be organized that will be dedicated to improving and harnessing the best of Davao City. Specifically, these created councils will assess the city’s core competencies and areas for improvement. Through this, developmental goals and visions with specific measures and targets will be formulated, implemented and regularly monitored. Local and foreign investors will be encouraged to capitalize their resource in the region at taxes incentives and other local benefits through the program. Although this will still undergo rigorous analysis and modifications, I trust that this is a bold yet noble step towards uplifting the quality of life and image in our city through collective government and local effort.
It has been in my personal interest to advance Davao City further, not only in the Philippines, but in Southeast Asia as well. This has been very much possible and has been currently strived in Quezon City and Cebu City. Through specific medium to long term development goals for the city can we be oriented to an ambitious albeit feasible goal that the city wants to achieve.
Your response would be highly appreciated and can help young citizens such as myself in deciding who to vote in the upcoming elections. May this also serve as a guideline on what course of actions to do and where to improve on in your work as a public official. Thank you very much for your time in reading this letter.
Truly yours,
RYAN GLENN M. SOGUILON
ryan_soguilon@yahoo.com
09063157400/ (082)221-6388
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