Mt Prov gov asks for forgiveness from critics

By Dexter A. See

BONTOC, Mountain Province – Gov. Leonard G. Mayaen reached out to his critics and detractors by asking them to bury their differences in the light of the rapid state of development of this province.

Mayaen made his appeal for forgiveness and understanding during the province’s 45th founding anniversary at the Mountain Province multipurpose arena on April 7.

“As we celebrate the growth of our province, let us learn to bury our differences and continue to move on. The development of our province has been anchored on our formidable teamwork and our unrelenting passion to improve the status of the province,” Mayaen said.

“Local officials and the people must learn to sacrifice like what Jesus Christ did for the whole world in order to achieve their go as and aspirations to make Mountain Province one of the most developed provinces in our country.

Mountain Province is situated in the central cordillera around 187 kilometers north of Baguio City and which was originally one of the sub-provinces of the old Mountain province before it was divided into four provinces by virtue of Republic Act 4695 promulgated in June 1966 through the initiative of Cordillera congressmen. Mountain Province, Benguet, Kalinga-Apayao and Ifugao became independent provinces after the enactment of the said law.

“Let us learn the Christian way of living in order to be able to chart our destination towards achieving our goals and aspirations for our province. Making sacrifices for the welfare of the greater majority of our populace will bring us to greater heights and brings out the qualities of a true blooded native of Mountain Province who will continue to work hard to achieve success,” Mayaen said.

He added even if the province’s foundation day fell on Black Saturday, over 2000 local officials, residents and visitors trooped to this capital town and joined the simple rites prepared by the provincial government to commemorate its birthday.

Because of the continuous influx of infrastructure projects in the province over the past several years, Mountain Province can now be reached within four hours from Baguio City, 45 minutes from Banaue, Ifugao and approximately 5 hours from Kalinga while roads connecting the province to the Ilocos region is undergoing rehabilitation and upgrading primarily to establish inter-regional linkages that would spur economic growth in the countryside.

Mayaen predicted a robust economic growth in the province in the next five to ten years because of the perceived tourism boom anchored on its numerous eco-tourism sites which are now being frequented by thousands of foreign and domestic tourists.

For decades, the Cordillera was identified as Mountain Province. In 1907, it became a special province of the Philippines which were composed of the provinces of Bontoc-Lepanto-Amburayan, Ifugao, Kalinga, Benguet and Apayao. Bontoc was then made the provincial capital of the whole Mountain Province before it was again subdivided into seven sub-provinces, namely, Benguet, Bontoc, Ifugao, Lepanto, Amburayan, Kalinga and Apayao.

Amburayan was later infused with Bontoc and Lepanto with Benguet to made up five sub-provinces popularly known as BIBAK (Bontoc, Ifugao, Benguet, Apayao and Kalinga.