MANKAYAN, Benguet – Mayor Frenzel Ayodoc Ayong assured the people of the town’s twelve barangays that the impact of development projects to be implemented in the different areas will cascade to the grassroots level for them to feel the presence of government.
Ayong, who is seeking re-election for his second term as mayor, claimed he started instituting the needed reforms in the municipal government in his first term, aside from establishing the appropriate network that allowed the municipality to access funding from government agencies and the provincial government to augment the town’s limited resources, that paved the way for the effective and efficient delivery of basic services to the people.
The municipal chief executive pointed out that he would work closely not only with concerned government agencies and local governments, but also with the private sector, to ensure the continuous implementation of sustainable development projects that will translate to growth and development in the rural communities and to address the needs of the vulnerable and marginalized sectors.
Mayor Ayong brought to the attention of Anti-Crime and Terrorism through Community Involvement and Support (ACT-CIS) Party-list Rep. and Benguet Caretaker Congressman Eric Yap the need to provide funds for the improvement of the Balili Road which the lawmaker immediately responded to by ensuring the availability of some P100 million under the annual budget of the public works department to start the implementation of the rehabilitation and upgrading of the over 10-kilometer roadline.
Previously, he also accessed funds from the provincial government, through Gov. Melchor Diclas, for the implementation of some projects in strategic portions of the arterial roads connecting to the said road.
In his previous visits to the different parts of the municipality, Congressman Yap assured that the balance of the funds to complete the rehabilitation and upgrading of the Balili road will be included in the future budgets of the public works department to ensure the completion of the project within the next several years to benefit the thousands of farmers in the area with lesser inconvenience in transporting their agricultural crops from their farms to the nearest markets.
Ayong claimed that the municipal government will also pursue the construction of an evacuation center in a lot owned by the local government with funds were sourced from the State-owned Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation (PAGCOR) as the initial P25 million was already downloaded to the municipality early this year to start the project implementation.
However, he admitted that the supposed bidding of the project was covered by the ongoing election ban that is why this will be pursued right after the conduct of the May 9, 2022 synchronized national and local elections as the documents for the bidding had already been completed.
Mankayan is one of the 5 first-class towns and one of the 3 towns that rely on mining as their major source of income to sustain the delivery of quality basic services and implementation of high impact development projects.