Benguet caretaker Eric Go Yap of ACT-CIS party-list has visited two outlying barangays in Atok and Kapangan on May 22 to personally see the situation in the areas, where he also distributed cash assistance.
Yap, onboard a private chopper, first stopped at Barangay Poblacion in Atok where he was met by Mayor Raymundo Sarac and the sangguniang bayan members and barangay captains of the town.
The lawmaker turned over cash relief assistance, which he personally funded, to 10 identified beneficiaries each from the barangays of Naguey, Topdac, Poblacion, and Pasdong.
The municipal council also handed over the resolution making the lawmaker an adopted son of the municipality for his continuing help to the province and its people.
Yap said he will assist Atok in its request for funding of a one-kilometer farm-to-market road that would further improve the municipality’s economy. He acknowledged the town’s potential for tourism with its various flower farms and the Sakura Park at Haight’s Place in Paoay.
Yap then proceeded to Sitio Tawang, Barangay Beleng-Belis in Kapangan with Mayor Manny Fermin where he also turned over cash aid to residents. The village can only be reached by foot three hours from the highway.
He did not disclose the financial assistance he has given to the two areas, but said the individual sum is the amount of a relief pack.
Yap said he aims that each municipality of the province will have a one-kilometer FMR funded by the Department of Public Works and Highways.
He said Kapangan and Atok will get the fund and other municipalities will follow to be funded either by the DPWH or Department of Agriculture.
“Gusto ko po makita ang kalagayan nila. Ito iyong mga lugar na hindi napupuntahan ng ibang tao, taga-rito lang at nahihirapan pa po silang maglakad,” Yap said.
The caretaker said he will visit other municipalities soon to also see their situation.
“Lahat po ng munisipyo iikutin natin. Nakikipag-coordinate na tayo sa mga mayors. Limited lang po ngayon kasi may issue pa po kami sa Congress, lalo na po sa franchise issues at sa appropriations kaya hindi ako nakakapunta dito. Kaya po kada may mga break kami, I’m making sure I can come here and all towns I could visit,” he said. – Ofelia C. Empian
