Yt Framework

Former Zamboanga del Norte Congressman Nonong Jalosjos is stepping up his preparations for the 2013 elections as he opens a political headquarters in Zamboanga City.

The Zamboanguenos for the Transformation of Zamboanga (ZTZ), a coalition among the group of Jalosjos, the local Partido Demokratiko Pilipino – Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) and several sectoral groups, now has an office along Tetuan Highway, right beside the Coca-Cola plant.

Nonong Jalosjos and former Vice Mayor Mannix Dalipe led in the soft opening of the main ZTZ Headquarters along with Councilors Mel Sadain and Rudy Bayot, Dapitan City Councilor Mercy Arquiza Fernandez, Jihan Edding, Jerico Bustamante, Kagawad John Dalipe and other members of the group.

Recall, Jalosjos and his allies presented 25 development programs for the transformation of Zamboanga during a press conference where Jalosjos declared that he will run for Mayor in the city.         

The programs include:

1.    Restore peace and order by decreasing residents to policemen ratio to an ideal level and introduce a comprehensive long term peace and order plan for the city to address present and future peace and order concerns.

2.    Create required additional number of congressional districts for faster development.

3.    Construct a new government center where the different components are either housed in the same building or in separate buildings but contiguous to each other.

4.    Offer incentives to entice the holding companies to establish and operate several SM, Robinsons, Gaisano, and other national malls in the city.

5.    Establish new roads ensuring wide streets designed to eliminate traffic congestion. Support this project with flyovers, loops and circumferential and by-pass roads where applicable, and establish an appropriate mass transit system.

6.    Expand the seaport.

7.    Construct and operate a modern Integrated Bus Terminal that is at par or even better than those in other developed cities.

8.    Expand and improve public health care by providing more facilities and adding more funds for medical benefits.

9.    Declare the entire City as a Tourism Zone to benefit from the various incentives that the TIEZA law provides to tourism investors.

10.    Encourage businessmen to invest in opportunities that will be opened in the process of development, acting under the purview of the PPP or BOT and BOO.

11.    Establish, expand and make known domestically and to the whole world the unique cultural heritage that is Chavacano.

12.    Build a high rise structure to expand the city’s main public market with complete facilities including parking areas. And expand satellite markets like the Sta. Cruz.

13.    Restore Pasonanca into its original glorious past by defining its boundaries and improving all its features like the tree house, spring water fed pools, camping grounds, parks, and others.

14.    Build the Region’s, if not Mindanao’s largest aqua sports facility within the city.

15.    Discover, support and propagate the works of the artists in the city be it in music, literature, visual renditions, and others.

16.    Rehab, re-establish and operate the Zamboanga Plaza Hotel as additional tourist facility.

17.    Restore Zamboanga’s image as “The City of Flowers” by lining our streets and thoroughfares with the most beautiful and exotic flowers that Philippine Flora can provide.  Then encourage investors to carve out a commercial cut flower industry in La Paz and other suitable barangays. Support this with the establishment and development of vegetable gardens and plots – first to supply the city’s needs, then to market in neighboring cities and towns.

18.    Achieve the splendor of an International Airport by moving on with the transfer to a larger navigable location and establishing complete basic and modern facilities.

19.    Increase support to the education sector by providing more scholarships, more opportunities for teachers to attain higher education such as Masteral and Doctorate degrees, and more funds for educational infrastructures.

20.    Develop Sta. Cruz island into a world class tourist destination.

21.    City will take over the Zamboanga Golf and Country Club and convert the same into a world class facility.

22.    Restore the sanctity of the Fort Pilar Shrine by encouraging the parish to continue, and even introduce more religious services and activities in the area. 

23.    Restore the Fort del Pilar to its original divisions and subdivisions by moving the museum to a more appropriate area such as the present city hall.
24.    Restore and expand the “Baradero” or shipyard and promote the Zamboangueno skills in building and restoring all kinds of seacrafts.

25.    Establish big parks in the East and West Coasts of the city, the likes of Pasonanca.
Jalosjos vowed to implement the programs simultaneously saying he will assign members of his party to lead a particular program and ensure its proper implementation the soonest time possible.

Also present during the blessing and inauguration were several barangay officials, local businessmen, presidents of the different urban poor associations in the city, and many others.

Two more headquarters are expected to be established by the ZTZ, one in the east coast and one in the west coast of the city.

by: Nonong Santiago