MORE NEWS, ILOCOS SUR

Solon pushes ecozone project
By Mar T. Supnad

VIGAN CITY, ILocos Sur — Rep. Ronald V. Singson (1st district, Ilocos Sur) sought the immediate establishment of the Ilocos Sur Special Economic Zone and Freeport (ISSEZF) project that is expected to spur economic development and generate thousands of jobs in Northern Luzon. The congressman also accused a fellow lawmaker of allegedly trying to stop the passage of a bill for the creation of the Ilocos Sur Special Economic Zone and Freeport Authority (ISSEZFA).

Singson, son of former Gov. Luis "Chavit" Singson, said members of the House committee on economic affairs who had conducted a hearing in Salomague Port in Cabugao town, this province, where the proposed economic zone (ecozone) would be established, has already approved the bill.

Members of the committee, he said, noted economic benefits of the ecozone as well as the thousands of jobs that would be generated.

The young solon said that because of negative developments in the tobacco industry, the main source of farmers’ income in the province, there is a need for the immediate implementation of the ecozone and freeport project. It was reported earlier that during an committee hearing in Congress, Singson flared up when Rep. Exequiel Javier, chairman of the House committee on ways and means, tried to block the passage of the ecozone-freeport bill.