By Alfonso T. Ruda
DIPOLOG CITY — “I am sure that if we follow this ‘daang matuwid,’ we will be able to realize the true essence of independence,” Judge Jose Rene Donodoyano of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC) of Dapitan City told a throng of 3,000 attending a program in commemoration of the 116th Independence Day here last Thursday.
Speaking on the theme, ”Pagsunod sa Yapak ng mga Dakilang Pilipino, Tungo sa Malawakan at Permanenteng Pagababago,” Judge Dondoyano urged the public to follow in the footsteps of “our great ancestors and heroes” in order to attain a wider and permanent change for “the betterment of our country.”
Dondoyano also hailed the effort of President Benigno S. Aquino III to cleanse the bureaucracy of corrupt and inefficient officials, as he called on the public to ponder seriously the “true state of our existence as an independent nation.”
The country, he said, has been faced with huge foreign debt, high unemployment rate, weak peso against the dollar, frequent brownouts, congress tainted with corruption charges, high-ranking government officials accused of graft and corruption and many more.
The MTCC judge, however, commended the Dipolognons and the people of Zamboanga del Norte for electing good leaders who have the trust and confidence of President Aquino.
The city leadership is pushing for its vision of “Swigapore 2030,” which aims to make Dipolog a bustling commercial center similar to Singapore while preserving its green environment like Switzerland.
Zamboanga del Norte Provincial Governor Roberto Y. Uy is pushing for the development of the province by implementing infrastructure projects such as roads, bridges, farm-to-market roads, irrigation systems as well as health and livelihood programs to extricate the province from the roster of poorest provinces in the country.
The celebration started with a flag-raising ceremony and a program at the city plaza, followed by a foot parade to the city boulevard with officials and employees of the provincial and city governments, national government agencies (NGAs), non-government organizations (NGOs), civic organizations, academe, business sector, religious sector, 21 barangays of Dipolog City, Department of Education, (DepEd), Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP), Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP), Philippine National Police (PNP) and students from the different schools in the city as participants.
The Philippine Independence was declared by the first Philippine President Emilio Aguinaldo in Kawit, Cavite in 1898.
