BAGUIO CITY – Aside from legislation, which was former Baguio Representative Bernardo Vergara’s main task in serving in the Lower House of Congress for four terms, he also fund-sourced national funds and exercised coordinating functions to ensure that funds secured were properly and wisely spent for the city.
“Hindi lang legislation ang trabaho ng congressman, multi-tasking din ako sa paghanap ng pondo para sa mga proyekto ng siyudad natin at pag-coordinate para maayos and pagpapatupad ng mga proyekto natin para sa Baguio,” he pointed out.
This was explained in an interview in the heels of black propaganda emanating from his detractors during this election campaign which described him as being too old to seek public office again and also after the discovery of a Facebook community account titled “No to Bernardo Matanda Na Vergara” recently.
“Wala naman sa edad yan. Ang importante ay healthy and very able pa tayo. At mas importante ay may kredibilidad at integridad din tayo,” Vergara explained.
“Sa mga national funds, tulad ng national budget, may share ang Baguio sa annual allocation. In the last three years for instance, about one billion pesos ang ibinigay sa Baguio taon-taon. Nakikita naman natin kung paano nilustay ang malaking pondo para sa Baguio. Ang mga national highways na aking ipinaayos from 2010 till 2013, muling hinukay, binakbak, binungkal, para daw ayusin. Tatlong overpass ang ipinatayo, na ngayon ay mga white elephant dahil walang gumagamit. Mga proyektong pinagtapunan ng pondo, ginawa ng walang habas at pag-iisip. Ang infra budget na tatlong billion, lahat tayo nakunsumisyon,” Vergara said.
“As I have done in my past terms – in 1992, 1995, 1998 at muli in 2010, ginagamit ko ang annual allocations with 60 percent for hard projects at 40 percent for soft projects. For soft projects, my top priority was education, followed by health and social services, then followed by livelihood, job generation and other constituent needs. For hard projects, my top priority was the provision of diversion roads to ease traffic, and sidewalk development to encourage physical, rather than vehicular, mobility. My next priority was parks and playgrounds. Topmost in my list was Burnham Park, the Baguio Convention Center, the eco-tourism park at the former Irisan dumpsite, the city’s public market renovation and facelift, barangay covered courts, as well as barangay and city road upgrades. Sa ganitong paraan, lahat makikinabang sa pondong nakalaan.
Hindi tulad ngayon na ang pakinabang ay para sa iilan lang,” he continued.
Vergara explained that another equally important duty of a congressman is to source national funds and exercise coordinating functions to ensure that funds secured are properly and wisely spent. “Dito nakikita ang abilidad at integridad ng congressman. Proud kong masasabi na ang aking track record in this regard has been spot-clean in fund-sourcing and project identification para masiguro na ang pondong nakuha para sa Baguio ay doon lamang napunta. Walang bawas, walang kupit, walang tongpats. Malinis po si Vergara sa bagay na ito. And more significantly, sa panahong kailangan ng Baguio ang pondo para makabangon sa lindol at kalamidad, abilidad ang ginamit natin upang makumbinse ang national government na bigyan ang Baguio ng kahit na konting pagtingin,” Vergara stressed.
“By my leadership as congressman, at sa united efforts nating lahat, we helped Baguio recover from the 1990 killer quake and propel new growth directions to make our economy grow. We responded to constituent needs for better education, better health and social services, better road networks into and within the city, and a better business climate for quality jobs and decent livelihood access. Lahat ng magagawa sa panahong iyon, ating ginawa. Ang sabi nga ng ating mga kababayan, aramid ti pakakitaan! Di tulad ngayon, na walang habas ang pagbakbak at paghukay ng ating mga kalsada, ang sabi ng karamihan, aramid ti pagkakitaan,” he added.
In my platform are significant funding commitments to help ease traffic, rationalize our urbanization efforts so that road building does not worsen traffic, compromise public safety, and generate anarchy on the road. But providing funds is just half of the effort. The other half is to ensure that projects implemented are for the common good. Nasubokan na ninyo ang rekord ni vergara sa pagpapatupad ng proyekto. Malinis, maayos, may halaga sa buhay ng taga-Baguio. Subok na, di po ba?
By Herald Express News Team
