LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The year 2009 has seen Pangasinan achieving breakthroughs in its various development programs making it the best province in the region and one of the best in the country.

During the first flag raising ceremony for 2010 held on January 4, Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan said that 2009 was a banner year for the province with all the accomplishments and accolades garnered specifically on health care, coastal resource management practices and fiscal management.

Pangasinan, Baraan said, was cited as best province in many areas such as health care, nutrition, accounting and coastal resource management.

It is also number one in tourism arrival in Region I, PhilHealth coverage, and the most child-friendly province.

“We also have the best Capitol in the country,” he said as he added that more than the infrastructure development, the best asset of Pangasinan is its people.

The beauty of the Capitol, he disclosed, is not only because of the buildings and interiors but because of the people manning or the employees who provide quality and excellent public service.

“All these efforts, he said, is a function of leadership and “we owe this to a leader who knows what he wants for our province.”

“If we do not have a good leader like Gov. Amado T. Espino Jr., we will not be able to move forward to the right direction, Baraan added.

Although Pangasinan has already earned a lot of accomplishments for the past two years and a half, Baraan said “work has just started,” adding that “we still have a lot of work to do.”