Talisay City, Cebu
19 February 2013

President Benigno S. Aquino III pushed thru with his visit to Cebu province despite an inclement weather and held a meeting with local leaders and the community in Talisay City.

In his speech, the President cited concrete programs that his administration had achieved and redounded to the benefit of the Filipino people. One such example is the Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program wherein 3.1 million poor households are now registered as of December 2012. This year, government aims to increase the number to 3.8 million households. “Dito po sa Cebu, namumuhunan na tayo sa kinabukasan ng mahigit 97,000 kabahayan, upang umagapay sa kanila palayo sa kahirapan, at palapit sa kaunlaran,” President Aquino said.

He also enumerated several infrastructure projects in Cebu that the Department of Public Works and Highways is attending to in order to further improve tourism and commerce in the province. These include the North Hagnaya Wharf Road that serves as the gateway to the famous Bantayan Island and the rehabilitation of Ouano Avenue that will reduce travel time from Cebu City to Mactan-Cebu International Airport to thirty minutes from the present one hour.

“Malapit na rin po nating simulan ang planong pagpapalawak ng Mactan Circumferential Road na magpapaaliwalas ng biyahe papunta sa mga resort, hotel at iba pang lugar na dinadagsa ng mga turista sa Mactan Island. At tulad po ng nabanggit natin noong nakaraang SONA, ia-upgrade na rin natin ang ating international airports sa Mactan, na target nating makumpleto bago matapos ang ating termino,” the Chief Executive added.

A crowd of about 2,000 filled up the Tabunok Gym for the meeting. The event had to be transferred to another site within Talisay City due to heavy rains throughout the day in the province of Cebu.

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