Iloilo bags 3rd place in nat'l clean and green

For the second year in a row, the Province of Iloilo won the distinction as the 3rd “Cleanest and Greenest” province among 79 provinces in the country, Gov. Niel D. Tupas Sr. announced yesterday.

“This is a huge victory for our people and a big boost to our efforts to promote tourism in Iloilo,” declared Tupas after receiving the 2nd runner-up plaque from President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo at the Heroes Hall in Malacañang.

Iloilo narrowly lost to Bukidnon and Ilocos Norte, which won first prize and second prize, respectively, in the final evaluation for the highly-prestigious 2004 Gawad Pangulo sa Kapaligiran award, or simply the “National Clean and Green.”

But Iloilo edged out Bohol, the winner in the 2003 Clean and Green competition, to emerge as the region's best in the whole of the Visayas.

Tupas attributed this back-to-back honors for the province to the full cooperation of local officials and the year-round “Clean and Green” program that he embarked upon shortly after he was first elected governor of Iloilo.

“This will tell the whole nation that we are a disciplined people, fully conscious of our obligation to protect and preserve the environment, and promote health and sanitation as a way of life,” Tupas said.

The award includes a cash prize of P150,000.

Just last month, Iloilo province also won its second “Parangal” or award from the Krusadang Bayan Laban sa Jueteng and the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) as a “jueteng-free” province.

Dagupan Archbishop Oscar Cruz and Senator Aquilino “Nene” Pimentel cited the successful campaign of Tupas in stopping the illegal numbers game known locally as “daily double” for the second year in a row.

Tupas proves that “all we need is for a local chief executive to say ‘no' to illegal gambling,” Archbishop Cruz said in a statement.