Laoag, Ilocos Norte (CNN Philippines) — Gov. Imee Marcos says that the income of Ilocos Norte doubled since she assumed office in 2010.
In her State of the Province Address (SOPA) on Monday (August 10), Marcos said that, from P739 million in 2010, the annual income of Ilocos Norte has reached P1.42 billion.
“Good governance is its own reward,” Marcos said.
Ilocos Norte’s transitional economy is rapidly growing at 16.7%, which is much higher than Ilocos Region’s 5.72% and the national government’s 6.13%.
“The poverty level in Ilocos Norte has fallen to a record of 8.4%,” said Marcos.
One reason for the increase of the provincial income, she said, was the simplified process for issuing business permits and licenses, which brought in P4.2 billion in the last two years.
“We now have money to maintain our high human development index with better planned education and improved public health and social services,” she stressed.
Marcos said that Ilocos Norte can now officially say “Bye-bye, kinakurapay [Goodbye, poverty].”
She added that, in the remaining months of her present term, her administration would be busy revisiting agriculture, considering the disruption climate has wrought in the fields of the province.
“Already four typhoons have swept the province, confirming that our two new seasons in Ilocos Norte are drought and typhoon,” Marcos said.
Around 8,000 Ilocanos attended Marcos’s SOPA held at the Ilocos Norte Centennial Arena in Ilocos Norte.
