Mayor Ponce vows to enhance communication, improve public service

GEN. NATIVIDAD, Nueva Ecija – Larry Soriano Ponce, an information technology executive and the newly elected mayor of this town, promised to use his expertise to enhance communication and improve public service in the municipality.

In his recent inaugural speech, Ponce said he will also focus in uplifting the town’s economy and provide better health care service.

Ponce, an engineer who owns Austech Construction Corp. and a general contractor of  Australian telecommunications company Telstra, was voted as barangay captain of Mataas na Kahoy in 2023 after he lost in his first attempt to run as mayor in 2022.

In the recent midterm polls, Ponce defeated two-term mayor Anita Arocena but the rest of his ticket failed to win seats in the elected posts.

In his speech, Ponce calso alled on the residents of General Natividad to move on from the elections and set aside politics

“Let us all be united,” he said.

In his first executive order as mayor, the social pension for indigent senior citizens will be delivered to the homes of the beneficiaries, thereby, getting rid of long queues and arduous steps in receiving the benefit from the Department of Social Welfare and Development.

“Seniors will no longer have to wait for long hours to receive their monthly pension,” the mayor said. “I will also give additional something for them from my own pocket.”  

The rehabilitation of municipal roads will also be his primary concern.

The local government, he said, also will buy palay (unhusked rice) at a higher price to ensure that the farmer’s investment will be recovered.

“Cost efficiency from post harvest facilities will also be in place and  the farm inputs will be provided to all farmers under his administration,” he said.