BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Bonifacio Lacwasan, Jr. commended House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez for appointing Kalinga Rep. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang as the caretaker congressman of the province for the unexpired term of the Late Rep. Maximo Dalog, Sr., who succumbed to alleged failed kidney ailment.
The local chief executive said the people and officialdom of the province are elated over the appointment of Rep. Mangaoang as the province’s caretaker because there will be a continuity in the implementation of the priority development projects that remain unfunded as the caretaker congressman can intercede for funding from concerned government agencies.
“We will surely work together to sustain the development of the province that was already started previously and we hope that we will be able to make a difference to the province’s current status in the coming years,” Lacwasan stressed.
Lacwasan and Mangaoang were former colleagues in the League of Vice Governors of the Philippines during their previous terms when the former served as Mountain Province vice governor while the latter served as Kalinga vice governor.
The governor said that Mountain Province officials will invite Mangaoang to visit the province at some convenient time for them to plan the development thrust of the province.
According to him, the people and officials of the province are slowly recovering from the untimely demise of two of the province’s well respected and well-loved leaders in the person of the late Gov. Leonard G. Mayaen, who succumbed to cardiac arrest on March 31, 2016, and the late Rep. Dalog, who recently succumbed to failed kidney.
Earlier, Mangaoang, whose mother hails from Sagada town, expressed his intention to visit the province and consult with local officials and the people on their desired development thrust once he will receive his appointment papers.
He called on the local officials and the people for unity and sustained support to his added assignment as caretaker congressman of province so that there will be something that could be achieved during his incumbency as caretaker as he assured that he will also pursue the unfinished legislations of Rep. Dalog and the projects that he intended to fund for the overall infrastructure development of the province.
Mangaoang is a first-term lawmaker after completing his three terms as vice governor while Lacwasan is the province’s governor after also serving three terms as vice governor.
Lacwasan expressed optimism that the province’s priority development projects will be given due consideration for funding not only by the local government but also concerned government agencies to realise the need for robust infrastructure development, a major aspect of economic growth.
Lacwasan urged the people of the province to sustain their unity amidst differences because the province will surely go a long way in achieving the desired development thrusts due to the unity and cooperation of the officials and their constituents in the different barangays.
By HENT