MANKAYAN, Benguet – Mayor Frenzel Ayong assured the constituents of this mineral-rich town that the present batch of local officials will be listening to their plight, caring for their needs that could be met by the available resources and bring government services closer to them.
The newly sworn-in local chief executive underscored that the local government will always be open to people wanting to air their sentiments, suggestions and recommendations on how the municipality should be governed as he will be embracing an open-door policy to make sure that people from all walks of life will be treated with utmost respect when bringing their concerns to their elected leaders.
He added local officials will make themselves available in the different barangays to listen and initially address problems people will bring to their attention, aside from the fact that government services will be cascaded to the grassroots level to make these accessible for residents.
However, Ayong admitted that the programs and projects to be crafted by his administration will focus on maximizing the available resources of the local government aside from trying to work out linkages with other government agencies and national leaders for the infusion of added support for the municipality.
“We have to hit the ground going because our constituents have high expectations on the new brand of leadership we will infuse. We certainly do not want to fail our people as we will do whatever we can to achieve our goals and objectives right at the start of our administration,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
He also claimed that he will be establishing friendly relations with the town’s neighboring municipalities in Benguet, Mountain Province and Ilocos Sur to ensure the immediate resolution of existing boundary disputes and issues and concerns that will arise among the people of the town and those based in other neighboring municipalities.
According to him, he will reach out to all sectors in the municipality to get them on board in the planning, execution and monitoring of programs, projects and activities of the municipal government to make them feel they are equally important in governance and that their inputs will be respected and considered in the crafting of the town’s overall short, medium and long-term development plan.
He urged various sectors in the municipality to actively participate in the programs, projects and activities of the administration as their role in the success of his administration will be vital.
Mankayan is one of the 5 first-class municipalities in Benguet and its major source of income is its share from the national wealth taxes of Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company as well as the real property and business taxes being paid by the mining firm to the local government.
Ayong is one of the 6 new local chief executives in the province who were elected by their constituents to lead their respective municipalities up to June 30, 2022.
By HENT
