Davaoeño is TUCP party-list second nominee

A Davaoeño has been declared the second nominee of the Trade Union Congress of the Philippines (TUCP) party-list in its 2010 congressional bid.

Anthony Sasin, director and spokesperson of the Philippine Banana Growers Exporters Association (PBGEA) and executive vice president of Anflo Management and Investment Corporation (Anflocor), is next in line to first nominee Rep. Raymond Mendoza (ALU, Cebu and North Cotabato).

The other nominees are former Executive Secretary Ruben Torres (Zamabales), Roland de la Cruz (Negros), Cecilio Seno Jr,. (Cebu and Ipil), and Milagros Ogalinda.

Sasin said he is a long-time TUCP member and consultant on labor and Mindanao affairs.

“As a long-time party member and labor consultant of TUCP, I have developed and implemented programs and projects which paved the way for building better labor-management relations particularly in Mindanao,” Sasin said in a statement.

TUCP Party-list, for its part, said Sasin’s exposure in the banana industry made him its second nominee for the congressional bid.

TUCP Party-List said it is confident Sasin can represent labor interests in Congress “in a more noble and dynamic manner.”

In its website, TUCP Party-list said it is “the largest workers’ party in the Philippines.”

Sasin said he is pushing government to further support the banana industry to protect the livelihood of over 200,000 workers and their families.

“We must give more priority to an industry which gives the country hundreds of millions of dollars in export revenues per year and sustained the economic growth of Mindanao for more than three decades,” he said.

“The contributions of the banana industry to national and regional development are clear to see. That is why we have to further support the growth of this sector,” he added.

Sasin said his job for TUCP also revolved around workers’ training for global competitiveness, having created programs for human resource development.

Sasin, in his capacity as TUCP Consultant on Mindanao Affairs, urged the government to fast-track the deepening of regional integration of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), Japan and China.

“We must seize the opportunities that present themselves to us now. The world is recovering from financial slump and we must capitalize on the strengths that we have in the region,” he said.

He said there is a need to solidify the country’s ties with ASEAN countries specifically Japan being the second and third largest trading partners with vast markets.

“It will mean more businesses and more jobs for Filipinos,” he said. –JUDY QUIROS, The Mindanao Daily Mirror