There is a surge in government infrastructure projects in the first district of Leyte. These include the Tacloban Airport Development, Tacloban City Causeway, Tacloban ‘City Bypass Road Extension, Tacloban-Palo Diversion Road, and the Tide Embankment Project. In the adjacent town of Babatngon there is a port project called Eastern Visayas Regional Transshipment hub. The aggregate cost of these projects is approximately fifty billion pesos.
The runway expansion of the Tacloban Airport (also known as the Daniel Z. Romualdez Airport), the Tacloban Coastal road and the second San Juanico Bridge that are still in the drawing boards will double the total project cost to nearly a hundred billion pesos.
These projects will have to be assessed as to their impact on the socio-economic development of the first district, to Leyte province and to the Eastern Visayas region. In particular, these have to be evaluated in relation to the economic situation in Leyte. ‘ Development is about attacking poverty and reducing the number of people classified as poor and suffering from want of basic necessities in life. Consider this: poverty incidence is at 23.3 percent. This extent of poverty is triple that of the national average of ten percent... In fact, it is among the highest in the country.
The Romualdez family has been in control of Leyte for a very long time. Its political influence in Leyte extends to over a century when Daniel Romualdez served as gobernador cillo of Tolosa, Leyte in the Spanish colonial era. Benjamin “Kokoy” Romualdez, the brother of Imelda Romualdez Marcos, served a Governor of Leyte for nearly 20 years, from 1967 to 1986. He is the father of Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, representing the First District of Leyte. He has been Congressman since 2007, except 2016 to 2019.
Tacloban City is located in the first district. Its Mayor is Alfred Romualdez, a cousin of Martin
The point made here is simple. After exercising control over the province of Leyte for a very long time, why is the Romualdez family unable to improve substantially the economic situation in the Province and in the first District?
The strategies that the Romualdezes have been using to stay in power are not solving the economic problems of the area. Big ticket projects costing billion of pesos can create significant impact on development. But as these stand now, they are not.
This emphasis on infrastructure projects with barely any accompanying surge in agriculture and industrial projects could be the all-important missing link and the reason this province is being left behind by the rest of the progressive provinces in the country.
Government leaders in this province still have to come up with projects that will uplift the situation of the poor. As it stands, years and years of the same leadership has not resulted in a significant reduction of the poor population. In other words, their efforts centered on infrastructure have so far failed in achieving the goals of development.
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