Domagoso vows more infrastructure, health facilities in Samar
MANILA MAYOR and presidential bet Francisco “Isko” M. Domagoso, along with his running mate Willie T. Ong, started their campaign in the central part of the Philippines on Tuesday, making Samar their first stop with a promise to build more infrastructure and health facilities on the island.
“When it comes to basic needs, like hospitals… Doc Willie and I, together with our partymates have agreed that we will build 17 10-story fully-airconditioned with equipment public free hospitals,” Mr. Domagoso was quoted as saying in Filipino in a statement released by his campaign team.
“Doc Willie really wants to have the cancer center built. He also suggested the infectious disease hospital,” he said.
“Then, you can see the schools here in Samar. You can really see that infrastructure is really needed here because it takes too long to travel to each community and there are many communities, so we will try to do what is needed in those areas,” he added.
Samar used to be among the poorest areas in the country.
As of the first half of 2021, however, the provinces of Samar and Eastern Samar have moved to the second cluster in terms of poverty rate while Northern Samar was already within the third cluster, based on Philippine Statistics Authority data.
Meanwhile, Aksyon Demokratiko Chairperson Ernest M. Ramel, Jr. said he expects the endorsement of Maguindanao Rep. Esmael “Toto” G. Mangudadatu to convince more people from Mindanao to vote for Mr. Domagoso.
He noted that Mr. Mangudadatu, who previously served as a governor in the province, and his wife Sharifa Akeel have significant influence in the southern islands.
“They can have a huge sway (of votes), in fact, they even have their local party there that Mayor Isko is campaigning for,” he was quoted as saying in Filipino in a statement.
Mr. Ramel said the Manila Mayor is scheduled to have a campaign sortie in Mindanao. — Jaspearl Emerald G. Tan
