“I thought long and hard about my decision to run for Congressman of Bacolod City,” Daniel Alfonso “Dan” Atayde said when he filed his Certificate of Candidacy at the city Commission on Elections Oct. 8.
“I see the need to change the delivery of service to the less privileged Bacolodnons. I am willing to share my expertise since we all love this city,” the 50-year-old resident of Barangay Villamonte added.
Atayde comes from the close-knit clans of the Del Prados, Nietos, and Rocos. He describes himself as a family man, a responsible and affectionate father, a loyal and loving husband, and a kind, industrious, hard-working individual.
He is an independent congressional candidate in the May 2022 elections because he believes that he is running in behalf of the Bacolod residents.
For now, he has a small team supporting him but he expects additional support once Bacolodnons know who Dan Atayde is.
He was born in Davao City and relocated to Manila. His parents sent him to La Salle Bacolod for his college education in the early 90s but finished his studies in Manila. He married Helen Jocson, an Ilongga, and they settled in Bacolod roughly 23 years ago.
He said he learned to love and admire Bacolod as a good place to live in and raise a family.
He is the uncle of showbiz personalities Arjo and Ria Atayde because his brother, Arthur, is married to actress Sylvia Sanchez.
He is generous, fun-loving, outgoing, loves to play jokes on his friends, humble, and loyal to a fault.
His father is Ramon Atayde, who was into port operations, and he got him exposed to this kind of business until he became the Visayas manager of Seasia Logistics based in Bataan, and a director of a trading partner, Venture Dragon. He eventually became a BREDCO Port consultant.
Atayde said he learned to love and cherish the people of Bacolod because of their friendly attitude. He said Bacolodnons are hard-working, and this inspired him to think of ways on how he can help them provide better for their families.
“I am not talking as a politician but as a businessman. My goal for Bacolod is to help build up the industries to give people jobs, and this can help feed their families, and raise their children to have education,” he said.
Atayde said being a biking enthusiast gives him the chance to go around and visit the different barangays of the city.
“As I go around seeing people and friends, I see no growth, that’s why I want to put up an economic zone,” he said, adding that he can be of help to establish a port economic zone under the Philippine Economic Zone Authority in Bacolod that can also boost the local economy.
That boosting of the economy starts at the ports as entry points. As an expert in port operations, Atayde said he observes that Bacolod has a lot of incoming cargoes but lack outgoing freights, which for him is one way to balance the economy.
It is a good thing that the province has the sugar industry. That is the main cargo going out of the province to Manila and other big cities, but Bacolod also needs to make use of its ports and send goods, he added.
He said Bacolod has a lot of best schools for different professions but the opportunity is very limited if one wants a better job; and most of the skilled workers go abroad or work outside of Negros Occidental and Bacolod City.
Atayde said he is also concerned about the fisherfolk, that he said help provide food on the table. He said he plans to put up a proper fish port to assist this sector.
For the transport sector, he said there is a need to give additional support to drivers and operators than what they are getting right now from both national and local governments.
Atayde said a very important aspect of his vision for Bacolod is to provide better shelter for the poorest of the poor, and uplift their way of life.
He is in favor of dividing Bacolod into two districts so each congressman can focus more on the needs of their constituents.
With regard to the COVID pandemic that is affecting the world, he said he is happy to note that the vaccination rollout of the city is doing good. “Vaccination is very important for us to move forward.”
“I am willing to share my expertise to the people of Bacolod to help them move forward since we all love this City,” Atayde stressed. – NWI
