TAGUIG CITY - Energy Secretary Alfonso G. Cusi has cited the need for all Local Government Units (LGUs) to re-assess their respective agriculture and tourism programs to ensure the industries’ sustained growth as the country transitions to the “new normal” caused by the coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

As the designated Cabinet Officer for Regional Development and Security (CORDS) for Region IV-B MIMAROPA (Mindoro-Marinduque-Romblon-Palawan), Secretary Cusi said he has shared his views with the leaders of the provinces in the region.

He told the local officials that now is the perfect time for the LGUs to take a closer look at their various initiatives because the “new normal” allows everyone to create new things.

“It is really us that would define this and we need to work on this together,” said Secretary Cusi.

As LGUs re-assess their current projects and programs, Secretary Cusi assured the LGUs of Region IV-B that he, as their CORDS, and the DOE will be behind them as they revive their economies at the soonest possible time.

“The DOE will see to it that the delivery of energy goods and services are unhampered, knowing the importance of electricity to our everyday lives,” he pointed out.

In the MIMAROPA region, Secretary Cusi noted, agriculture and tourism are areas that the LGUs can further strengthen and develop to help the national government revive the economy, which suffered a huge loss due to the pandemic.

“Agriculture is an opportunity that we can really promote. We need food. The Department of Agriculture is working on the food security program and the region would be playing a major role in ensuring food security for the country. So this is a business that we need to re-assess to carry out our agriculture,” he said.

The Energy Chief said LGUs and the Department of Tourism (DOT) can also work together to redefine tourism at this time while the country is transitioning to the “new normal” with enhanced safety protocols and standards in place to curb the COVID-19 pandemic.

“It will be difficult to promote tourism under the previous normal. The world has changed,” Secretary Cusi noted. “The kind of standard that we are going to set for our tourism will define the kind of tourists that we are going to attract. Are we going to choose quality over quantity or numbers? That is something in the region that we need to work on,” Secretary Cusi said.

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