LA TRINIDAD, Benguet – Mayor Romeo K. Salda ordered the conduct of an in-depth investigation on who is the brains behind the fake text blast received by concerned residents that the municipal government will be distributing financial assistance in his residence that caused people to flock to his house to get the said aid Wednesday afternoon.
Salda strongly denounced such desperate acts of some local politicians to win the hearts of the town’s voters in their favor by trying to ruin his image through such fake information, saying that the distribution of ‘ayuda’ or financial assistance at this time is currently covered by the election spending ban except for the government’s fuel subsidy program that was recently exempted by the Commission on Election (Comelec) from the said ban and is being implemented by the Land Transportation Franchising Regulatory Board (LTFRB) and not even the local governments.
“We are saddened by the desperate acts of some aspirants for the various local elected positions in resorting to dirty tricks just to be able to win the hearts of our voters. We know that our people know and understand the real situation that is why we are grateful to them for having listened to our explanation on the matter,” Mayor Salda stressed.
Earlier, individuals from various barangays who reportedly got a text message from unknown sources flocked to Salda’s residence late Wednesday afternoon to receive the so-called ‘ayuda’ that will be distributed by the municipal government during the said time and date.
However, the municipal executive claimed that aside from being covered by the prevailing election spending ban, the information on existence of such program will be appropriately disseminated by the concerned offices of the municipal government through the available means, such as in the social and mainstream media, and that there are responsible people that are in charge of doing this and not through text messages.
Further, he pointed out that if there will be distribution of financial assistance, it will be done during office hours and in government facilities and not his residence, thus, the said text blast received by his constituents is false.
The mayor appealed to residents they should first validate the source of the text messages they are receiving, especially if it concerns the distribution of financial assistance from the concerned government agencies and the local government, to avoid the occurrence of similar incidents that will sow confusion among them and will simply waste their time, effort and resources.
Salda stipulated it seems the grand design to ruin his image in the eyes of the voters has been planned to be done during the critical stage of the campaign purposely to sway voters away from his side but he believes that the people know how to decipher real from false information that is why such act will surely go against those that perpetrated the same.
He urged the town’s voters to remain vigilant on future ‘dirty tactics’ that may be employed by some local politicians and for them to simply ignore these and vote for the candidates whom they believe will be instrumental in advancing the current state of the municipality to become one of the future growth centers not only in the province but also in the Cordillera.
