LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – The late Rep. Nestor Fongwan, Sr. made sure some P30 million was allocated for priority soft infrastructure projects within Benguet for this year before he succumbed to a lingering illness on December 18, 2019.
Board Member Nestor Fongwan, Jr. said that of the said amount that was left behind by his late father, some P10 was provided to the Commission on Higher Education (CHED) for the educational financial assistance to poor but deserving students from the different parts of the province wanting to pursue a higher level of education; P7.5 million was allotted to the Benguet General Hospital for the health and medical needs of indigent patients; P7.5 million was given to the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) for various forms of assistance to individuals in crisis situation; P2 million was given to the Philippine Heart Center for the medical needs of people wanting to seek medical treatment from the state-of-the-art hospital; P1.5 million was given to the Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center (BGHMC) for the medical needs of indigent patients and P1.5 million was released to the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) for livelihood assistance to individuals and groups from the province.
The younger Fongwan claimed some P70 million was equitably distributed to the priority infrastructure projects of the congressman in the different parts of the province but the list of the funded projects is still to be finalised after it is included in the national expenditure program.
He pointed out the funds earmarked for the lawmaker’s scholarship program was part of his previous commitment to pursue the long-standing scholarship program already implemented during previous administrations to ensure continuity in the ongoing studies of the current scholars.
Board member Fongwan expressed his gratitude to the appointed caretaker congressman, ACT-CIS Party-list Rep. Eric Go Yap, for his willingness to sustain the implementation of the late congressman’s priority soft infrastructure projects considering the enormous benefits this will bring to the people, especially the youth, who stand to benefit from the program and complete a higher level of education.
According to him, the caretaker congressman also committed to advance the priority bills of the deceased lawmaker which include the creation of an additional congressional district for Benguet, the increase in the existing bed capacity of the Benguet General Hospital, legislations that will benefit the province’s vegetable industry, among others, aside from linking Benguet to prospective investors that could help spur economic growth in the different parts of the province in the future.
Fongwan assured the caretaker congressman of the overwhelming support of the people and officialdom of the province to his programs and projects, especially when it will help in improving the overall status of Benguet and advancing the living condition of the people, aside from sustaining the robust growth of the province’s vegetable industry as Benguet supplies more than 80 percent of the highland vegetables being sold in the markets around the country.
By HENT