By KIMBERLIE NGABIT-QUITASOL
www.nordis.net

Your Northern Dispatch Weekly will run this Face -Off corner the next four weeks, on what some local candidates think about some burning issues of the day with the hope to provide information that may help readers decide this coming May 13 elections of who can better represent them in governance.

Editor’s Note: There are three candidates for Representative of Benguet namely Ronald Cosalan, Cresencio Pacalso, and Renan C. Munar. Nordis tried to interview Pacalso but he refused and explained that he would only be able to respond if he gets elected into office. Nordis was not able to find Munar.

Ronald Cosalan
Liberal Party

Considering that Benguet is already over mined, what is your stand on mining?

We are for responsible mining. Large scale mining companies should comply with mining guidelines to ensure the protection of the environment. We also want to sit down with the small scale miners (SSM) to discuss with them their proposed amendments to President Benigno Aquino’s Executive Order 79. We believe that the SSM were not properly consulted.

How will you protect the vegetable industry from the impacts of GATT-WTO?

After the World Trade Organization meeting in Doha, Qatar where small countries including the Philippines did not sign in protest, we are still waiting for the next meeting. It is but right that we did not sign because small countries like us are really at a disadvantage. Farmers in well developed countries enjoy very large government subsidy for agriculture as compared to farmers here in our country.

There is also a need to be on guard for the entry smuggled vegetables as a result of the South East Asian agriculture agreements that provide for tariff free trade of vegetables. We should not allow the entry of smuggled vegetables for the protection of our local farmers.

What are the top three legislations you would file in congress should you win this election?

We would file for 1. the amendment of the retirement law for mine workers reducing the retirement age from 60 to 50 years old for underground workers and to include surface workers; 2. refile the autonomy bill but consultations with the grassroots, at the barangay level should first be conducted to know what they really want to be in the law; 3. amendments to the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA) particularly on the provisions for a free prior and informed consent to strike a balance between the interest of the indigenous peoples, government and industry. # nordis.net