ILOILO City – Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon urged Ilonggos to go out and show support to Vice President Leni Robredo on her first visit to Iloilo as a presidential aspirant today.
“Let’s show our support and love to Vice President Leni Robredo,” Drilon said yesterday.
Robredo is set to meet and personally thank her thousands of Ilonggo supporters and confer with local leaders.
Drilon said Robredo can help continue the progress that the province and the city of Iloilo achieved in the past years.
“Vice President Robredo can get our national and local economy back on track. A lawyer, an economist and a social worker, Vice President Robredo will restore good governance that made us achieve unprecedented development, especially during the past administration,” he stressed.
Drilon has been instrumental in bringing ticket-projects to the province and the city during the administration of then President Noynoy Aquino.
However, Drilon said, the development of Iloilo province and city has been stymied by the pandemic and the inadequate push and support from the national government.
“While we have attained so much for our province and our city, the pandemic has stymied our development. There’s more to be done and the development of Iloilo remains a work in progress. What we need is a leader who will support our vision and help us attain new heights of economic and social success,” Drilon said.
In the 2016 vice presidential election, Robredo was a landslide winner in Iloilo. She obtained 706,052 votes in the province while her closest rival, Bongbong Marcos, got 127,434 votes. In the city, Robredo got 137,662 votes as against the 33,778 votes received by Marcos.
“Iloilo’s economy can get a fresh start when we can have a leader that we can really depend on,” Drilon said. “I am confident Vice President Robredo will bring back good governance that helped us achieve progress and development each and every Ilonggo so deserves.”
Among the big-ticket projects that Drilon brought to Iloilo are the Jalaur River Multi-Purpose Project Phase II, the Iloilo Convention Center, the 15-kilometer Sen. Benigno Aquino Jr. Avenue, the 14-kilometer four-lane circumferential road, the President Corazon Aquino Avenue, and Iloilo River Esplanade, among others.
“We were able to bring big-ticket projects that brought tremendous growth to our beloved province and city because of the tremendous support from the national government during the Aquino administration. We achieved so much in the past years because of good governance that should be the hallmark of every administration,” Drilon said.
Drilon also led the city in the rehabilitation efforts to revive the Iloilo River.
He, too, worked and helped fund the restoration of heritage structures in Iloilo. Among these are the century-old Elizalde building which now houses the first Museum of Philippine Economic History; the Sunburst Park where Drilon plans to put up the Wall of Panay Heroes; the renovation of the old Iloilo Customs House; and the restoration of the main building of the University of the Philippines Visayas in Molo district her.
In 2019, Iloilo business leaders honored Drilon for his immense contribution to Iloilo’s development./PN
