BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines – Neophyte Governor Jose Eugenio Lacson is expected to report on the state of Sugarlandia today as this province of close to 2.5 million people face a crisis that, some officials, say is worse than that caused by the sugar industry slump in the 80s.
Lacson is one of the youngest officials to hold the top post here. He is the 42nd Filipino to hold the chief executive’s position since Melecio Severino who was the first governor post 300 years of Spanish rule over the Philippines.
Prior to Filipino rule, colonial powers, Spain and the United States, have appointed non-Filipinos to the post.
Lacson is expected to report on the economic situation in the province amid a series of quarantines since April, this year, following the COVID19 pandemic.
His address will also come amid the tiempo muerto, the annual slowdown in the sugar industry that causes the economy to slow down in the haciendas or sugarcane plantations.
The monocrop economy, largely dependent on exports since the late 1800s, has been the backbone of the local economy ever since.
Lacson is the most recent governor to have led the province amid a crisis.
Previous to the pandemic, the most serious crises were that of the sugar industry and the Asian financial slump in the late 1990s.
DNX will share the livestream of the provincial government on its Facebook page today, starting 2pm, when Lacson gives his address.
