TUBA, Benguet – The passion to render genuine public service will not be compromised by one’s inability to speak the local dialect because what matters is the overall welfare of the people, especially those who were heavily impacted by the Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 pandemic, aside from the fact that the mother tongue could be learned during the course of time, Benguet caretaker congressman and Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. Eric Yap said here recently.
Yap, who chairs the powerful House committee on appropriations, stated that his obligation to the people of Benguet is to bring to the province the appropriate services and the vital infrastructure projects from concerned government agencies even if he does not understand or speak the local dialects.
He pointed out there are provincial, municipal and barangay officials, as well as other leaders from the different parts of the province, who often bring to his attention the plight of their constituents that need immediate action from concerned government agencies and that what he does is to take the appropriate action by requesting responsible government officials to act on the matter the soonest.
The lawmaker claimed that when the concerns of the people are given appropriate action by the government officials, the same is cascaded to the people through the desired services and the vital projects aside from the provision of funds for high-impact development projects in the future budgets of the concerned agencies.
Speaking before recipients of the labor department’s Tulong Panghanapbuhay Para sa Ating Disadvantaged or Displaced Workers (TUPAD) program in the municipality recently, Yap admitted his not being able to understand and speak the dialects, particularly Ibaloi, Kankanaey and Kalanguya, but he was able to deliver to the people the necessary services due them from the government such as the financial assistance from the labor department’s TUPAD, the social welfare department’s Assistance to Individuals in Crisis Situation (AICS), the health department’s medical assistance to indigent patients (MAIP) and key development projects specifically the road openings to Tacadang, Kibungan and Kayapa, Bakun, the continuation of the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Wangal Sports Complex, the put up of 13 multipurpose centers with covered courts and the put up of some 48 barangay centers among others.
According to him, he was able to bring to Benguet the aforesaid projects for this year alone without being able to speak the local dialects although he is trying his best to understand the same.
By next year, he assured the people of Benguet on the continuation of the benefits that they will be receiving from the said government programs aside from the inclusion of more high-impact development projects in the annual budget of the public works department amounting to P1.5 billion for the road opening of Camp 1, Tuba to Pangasinan, Itogon to Nueva Vizcaya, Mankayan to Ilocos Sur, among other similarly situated roads in the different parts of the province.
By Hent
