Have
you notice that in the past few years, people are looking for a leader that is
assertive and yet genuinely caring in their plight? I believe that this
generation of people is composed of those who works hard, doesn’t care with the
social crap happening around, is not easily swayed by opinion and the ones who
look up to a leader that will help them in long-term and not just because its
election time.
Some
politicians in the country may have a bad rap but there are still genuine
politicians around. I met with several of them and really there’s only a few
who can impress me with their platforms. As a citizen and voter, I still look
for someone who can perform beyond their platforms and not just for show.
In
the two occasions I’ve met Aklan Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr., he strikes me as
someone who genuinely wants to help his fellow countrymen. He is not much to
chit-chat but he is someone whose belief reflects his 4-point platform of:
Dahil
Panalo tayo sa Imprastraktura!
Dahil Panalo tayo sa Kalusugan!
Dahil Panalo tayo sa Kalusugan!
Dahil Panalo tayo sa
Kabuhayan!
Dahil Panalo tayo sa Edukasyon!
Mind you, I ‘m not from Aklan, I’ve just been there like four times officially and personally and I love the place, but if the election is tomorrow and I’m an Aklanon, I will choose him.
Aklan
Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr. wants nothing more than to see his fellow Aklanons
achieve a certain level of success in life. And why not, Nonong Haresco as he
is lovingly called in the lone district of Aklan, is living proof of what hard
work can do to change a person’s life.
Here
are other 24 things to know about Aklan Rep. Teodorico Haresco Jr.:
- He is a native of Ibajay, Aklan.
- Studied in the De La Salle University and graduated with honors in Economics and in Accounting.
- Completed his M.A. in International Economics at the McGill University in Canada.
- Happily married and a loving father of four.
- His business acumen is apparent even when he was still a student. Still studying at DLSU, he was able to grow a two thousand-peso loan from a relative into a buy-and-sell business by purchasing shrimps in Aklan, then selling it in Manila.
- He was able to develop a little start-up and turned it into a 50-hectare prawn-farming venture in his hometown of Ibajay, Aklan and he would find himself catering to big name restaurants in the metro.
- His life is already set living abroad and yet Haresco decided to return to Aklan with the hope that he can help uplift the lives of his fellow Aklanons.
- Haresco participated in the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development-International Trade Center in Switzerland.
- With his innate business acumen, he formed the Haresco Trade Specialists Co. and Silver Thread Inc., which exported local capiz shells to the European country
- He always has a heart for the less privileged and he was a teach-them-to-fish kind of guy. Instead of simply giving them food, he would rather encourage them to set up their own small business ventures to make them self-sustaining.
- Not only a proud Ilonggo, he is also a firm believer that the microenterprise industry has the ability to uplift individuals as long as they put in the commitment and dedication.
- One of his future visions is to build speech labs and training centers for high school students. If they didn’t want to go to college after graduation they could easily and directly work in IT-BPO companies.
- There was a time when he can't even pay the bill after a gall bladder operation thus he wants to contribute in the reorganization of the health sector.
- His contributions to the development of Aklan and the Philippines are well-documented; to date Rep. Nonong Haresco has authored and co-authored more than 60 house measures such as: An act establishing a mechanism for the sustainable development and use of the island of Boracay (HB00111); An act increasing the bed capacity of Ibajay District Hospital from 25 to 100 (HB00115); An act granting P1,000 monthly stipend by way of financial assistance to centenarians (HB02239); An act exempting users of electronic vehicles from the payment of road user’s tax (HB02240); An act to prescribe nutrition labelling for food products (HB02241); An act granting P500 monthly allowance to barangay tanods (HB02323); An act empowering the micro, small, and medium enterprises (HB03776); An act requiring mandatory installation of closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras on major roads included in routes of public utility vehicles among others (HB04335); and many others.
- He is the only Visayan and Aklanon to receive the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry Businessman of the Year Award (2007).
- He is a recipient of the Deutsche Bank Banker of the Year Award (2005).
- He was People Asia’s Person of the Year and graced the cover in 2008.
- He is one of the Modern Day Filipino Heroes (2008)
- He is one of the 23 Filipinos cited in the book celebrating 347 years of Philippine-British Relations.
- His company WINSOURCE Solutions Inc. has been a five-time recipient of the Queen’s Awards for Enterprise.
- Haresco conceptualized the President’s Bridge Programme (PBP) as a parallel intervention to regular government infrastructure programmes. This very successful reengineering model in the Philippines is being duplicated in Sri Lanka, Papa New Guinea, Cambodia, Siberia, and in other parts of Asia.
- He is the principal developer of a nationwide scholarship fund for the children of slain journalists and has put 34 young scholars through school since 2007.
- Haresco is not in favor of the proposed 1.9km bridge linking Bocaray and Caticlan believing that it will harm the micro-entrepreneurship and community-based businesses of one of the famous beach destinations in the world.
- He wants to monitor BSP lending practices. According to his statistics, the BSP is only allocating 9% loanable amount to MSMEs but only around 0.01% is given to them. The larger amount is given to conglomerates.
These
are only few of the facts about Haresco but it is clear that what he wants and
his visions is to eventually be able to provide jobs for others in their
communities and help in the development of its socio-economic sector for Aklan.
During the meet and greet lunch, singers from Dad's West Ave sung a few lines of Haresco's catchy jingle.
During the meet and greet lunch, singers from Dad's West Ave sung a few lines of Haresco's catchy jingle.
To know more about the Man from Aklan, visit his
fan page https://www.facebook.com/CongNonongHaresco/
