MANKAYAN, Benguet – Mayor Frenzel A. Ayong recently conceded to the results of the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections where he lost his re-election bid by a slim margin.
Ayong, who was seeking his re-election for his second term, was edged out by former Vice Mayor Dario Banario in a tightly contested race for the town’s mayoralty post during the recently concluded political exercise.
During the May 2019 mid-term elections, Ayong won over Banario by more or less 700 votes that paved the way for him to serve his first term as the town’s local chief executive.
“We know what happened but at least we fairly and quarterly fought our battle pursuant to our commitment for secure and free elections. It is a privilege to have been granted by the people of Mankayan to serve them and we hope that the programs, projects and activities that we were able to put in place will be sustained irregardless of who will be in power,” Mayor Ayong stressed.
The local chief executive disclosed that he will first take a break after the end of his term noon of June 30, 2022 before going back to work as a practicing lawyer or whatever will be the dictaties of the present times while keeping himself visible to help his constituents even in his private capacity.
According to him, he was able to give his best in serving his constituents, especially at the height of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic where he was able to access substantial support from concerned government agencies, the provincial government and AntiCrime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. and Benguet Caretaker Congressman Eric Yap, who was recently voted by the province’s electorate as the District Representative.
Ayong claimed that losing is part of the game of politics and that he is taking his loss constructively and without hurt feelings although he knew what really happened without dwelling into the details of what happened a few days prior to the elections where he was ganged upon not only by his rivals but also his critics.
Ayong previously worked as a law instructor at the Cordillera Career Development College (CCDC), a practicing lawyer, former Secretary to the Sanggunian and Provincial Legal officer.
He expressed his gratitude to the residents of the town’s 12 barangays for giving him a chance to serve them in a very limited period of time and that he will always be available to extend whatever assistance to them when they need such aid even as a private citizen because that is the essence of rendering genuine public service.
Mayor Ayong appealed to his supporters to extend the needed support to the next set of officials and for them to always remain vigilant to voice out their issues and concerns whenever the same are not given the appropriate attention by those who will be in power so that they will be able to have the comparison on the way leaders render service to their constituents.