ZAMBOANGA CITY (Mindanao Examiner / Dec. 21, 2011) – Sulu Governor Sakur Tan praised President Benigno Aquino’s peace and development efforts, saying the government has pledged more projects that will benefit poor Muslim communities in the province.
Tan also thanked the President for his personal intervention in granting additional 500 visas to Muslim pilgrims to Saudi Arabia after the governor sought Aquino’s help to assist those who will travel to Mecca for the annual pilgrimage.
Tan, a devout Muslim, said Aquino wrote a letter to the Saudi King and appealed for additional visas for Filipino pilgrims so they can travel for the Hajj.
“We thanked President Aquino for all these help and support that he is giving us, not only Sulu, but other provinces in the Muslim autonomous region,” he told reporters.
He said Aquino’s support to the development of Sulu is unprecedented. “We are now recipients of many government projects. I have been elected many times as governor, but we have never received such huge support from the national government and the President is there for just over a year and this is like a dream. We are so grateful to all the projects allocated for Sulu,” Tan said.
He said the projects allocated to Sulu include socialized housing, irrigation, agriculture and fisheries, and infrastructure among others. “With all these development projects, we could ask for more, but say thank you Mr. President,” Tan said.
Tan was in Zamboanga with governors Sadikul Sahali, of Tawi-Tawi; and Jum Akbar, of Basilan, for a meeting with officials of the National Irrigation Administration about projects for their respective provinces. (With reports from Ely Dumaboc and Joseph Zosobrado)
20