Casiño wants clear-cut industrial plan

A COMPREHENSIVE industrial plan, a genuine agrarian reform and a law protecting the Visayan Sea are among the legislations senatorial candidate Teodoro "Teddy" Casiño will pursue if he gets elected. The Bayan Muna representative said the legislations will benefit the Cebuanos. "We need a clear-cut and comprehensive industrial plan for the country. Cebu will definitely be one of the key centers in the development of our local manufacturing industries," he said in an interview.

Casiño said Cebu has always been an industrial hub, but many local industries shut down in the 1990s because of liberalization and other wrong government policies.

Reviving local manufacturing industries will generate jobs, said Casiño who spoke during an assembly of cooperatives in Lapu-Lapu City last Saturday.

Focus on agriculture

If elected senator, Casiño said he will also focus on the agricultural sector. "Cebu still has a big potential for agriculture," he said.

The agrarian reform program, he said, does not provide enough support services to the farmers.

"The beneficiaries of the agrarian reform are in debt. If we can correct that and come up with a law on genuine agrarian reform, many farmers in Cebu will benefit," he said.

The congressman said he will also push for the repeal of the oil deregulation law. He blamed the law for the soaring prices of petroleum products.

Compared to other areas, Casiño noted, the prices of diesel and other petroleum products are higher in Cebu.

"Through the repeal of the oil deregulation law, we can rationalize the prices of oil and other petroleum products," he said.

Casiño said he will push for a law protecting the Visayan Sea from oil explorations.

He said oil exploration efforts in the past led to a decline in fish catch in Cebu and other provinces.