Claver for Mt. Province; Balitang for Ifugao

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO
March L. Fianza

This week’s space gives way to two acquaintances that are in the thick of campaign for their vision and mission as Liberal Party gubernatorial bets in their respective provinces.

Aside from the bigger reason that we both support the aspirations of the Liberal Party and are there to push Ninoy, Mar and the LP senate slate; Louis "LOY" Funa-ay Claver is the brother-in-law of the late Pablo Lamsis Fernando, my uncle and friend.

That is also the rationale behind why many Ibalois who are not even registered voters of Mountain Province are supportive of vice governor Claver’s fight for governorship.

Before getting elected vice governor in 2007, Claver has been the mayor of Bontoc many times over from 1980-1986 and was re-appointed to the same position by President Cory Aquino in 1987. Again in 2001-2007, he was elected municipal mayor.

With a clean record in that span of experience in public service, every citizen in Mountain Province in his or her right mind should vote for governor none other than Claver who said that his goal is to “provide decent housing and medical care, quality education for all, and ensure food on every family’s table.”

Let me share a part of Louis “Loy” Funa-ay Claver’s platform of governance that I stole from hisFacebook account in the worldwide web in behalf of the reading public who do not have social networking accounts.
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“We will not stand idly to witness the further deterioration of the social conditions of the majority in our society. It is our duty to present to the people a government and political leadership that they deserve – foremost commitment to the people of Mountain Province to improve the quality of life, especially the poor and disadvantaged.”

The rule of law and good governance and freedom of every individual is the core of my belief which aims to build a society in which individuals are entitled to pursue their aims, develop their talents, and the fulfillment of their potentials which are free from arbitrary interference.

Redistribution of powers therefore, involves an enlargement of opportunities within the political and economic system, which should enable everyone to attain not high but at least a sustainable quality of life.

Thus, the main agenda or the core of system of government should focus mainly on the following: Health by giving financial assistance to indigent patients, upgrade hospital facilities, create barangay health clinics and provide health workers.

Education by creating, improving and rehabilitating school facilities to include particularly day care centers. Agriculture by improving post-harvest facilities aside from constructing loading platforms.

Infrastructure by improving or opening farm-to-market roads, constructing health centers and day care centers; and social services by providing faster frontline services and improving the processing of jobs.”

Claver adds, “delivery of basic social services to the people should always take precedence because the welfare of the majority should never be sacrificed.”

“Ken chakayo ay i-iba, Ma-awis kayo ay maki es-esang; LOY CLAVER nan ifotus taku Gobernador nan probinsya tako. La-ing, talek ya anos waday ken siya. Na-ila na isnan nen serbisyowan na. Maid koma in chuad-chuas ayena, tay esay chalan nan ipischo na. Claver for Governor nan na-i marka.”
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I have many lawyer friends and relatives but Eugene Mariano Balitang or EMB for short, the gubernatorial bet of Ifugao under the Liberal Party, is something else. I have known him as a lawyer who, in layman’s terms, painstakingly explains to his client the laws that are applicable to the case. Maybe that is so because many of his clients are from far-flung sitios of Ifugao.

He is a Certified Public Accountant since 1993 and a practicing Lawyer since 1999. And as a responsible CPA-lawyer, EMB knows that government programs and projects should be based on what the people want, not on what the politicians think is best for them. Governance must be participatory and consultative.

He said all other programs and projects of the provincial government under an EMB administration shall focus on EMB’s 3-point agenda on Economy, Education and Health Care.
In 2003, he opened his own accountancy and law office in Lagawe, Ifugao. Among his co-lawyers in Ifugao are Judge Bill Buyucan (MTC-Bagabag), Judge Jennifer Humiding (MTC-Lagawe) and Ifugao Provincial Election Supervisor Ricardo Bulintao.

EMB was born in Binnaliw, Cababuyan, Banaue; now part of Cababuyan-South, Hingyon, to Alfredo Dagadag Balitang, Sr. of Hingyon and Mercy Gayaman Mariano of Banaue. He is married to Deborah Balanban Buyagawon of Kiangan.

For his kakailians who want to know more about his bloodline, EMB’s grandfather Mariano is the only son of Kingguingan of Hapao, Hungduan and Inwayah of Poitan, Banaue; his wife Inchuyoh hails from Kinakin and Cambulo, Banaue. His grandfather Balitang is a descendant of Hangdaan of Mompolia, Hingyon; his wife Bugan hails from Cababuyan and Anao, Hingyon.

In May 2004, he was elected as the youngest Board Member of Ifugao and has authored several landmark ordinances among which are the Children’s Code of Ifugao that codified all the rights, duties and responsibilities of Ifugao children, and the Provincial GAD Code which recognizes the equality of men and women, and gender sensitivity in governance.

In 2007, EMB ran for governor but lost to Teddy Baguilat Jr., now a partymate in the LP who is running for congressman.

EMB believes that he would be facing three basic problems if elected governor in May 2010. These are: Provincial roads, provincial hospital and provincial boundaries. He knows that a road network is the basic infrastructure support for all programs and projects in the economic development of the province.

Hence, he said, “being an agricultural province, farm-to-market roads are important to the agriculture sector. Towards this end, the existing provincial roads connecting the municipalities to the capital town should by all means be improved and maintained at all times.”

Under his Health Program, EMB said Ifugao’s six provincial hospitals and one general hospital need to be upgraded into State-of-the-Art Hospitals (SOTAHs) while the general healthcare program should be among the top priorities of the provincial government, considering that these are sadly operating below par.

EMB said, there is the need for Ifugao to safeguard its territorial and ancestral domains and settle its boundary disputes with its neighboring provinces of Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet and Mountain Province , since land area is one of the criteria for the distribution of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA), where Ifugao is highly dependent of.

The age-old issue on the Magat Dam franchise and business taxes sharing with Isabela that is rooted in the unsettled boundary dispute between Alfonso Lista, Ifugao and Ramon, Isabela has to be addressed with dispatch.

In his desire to have our children be educationally competitive and up-to-date with the latest knowledge in our information highway, EMB believes in the energization or electrification of all barangays in the province. He also believes in the need to have all areas in the province accessible by cellular signal, but taking into consideration the effects of radiation discharge as mandated by a provincial ordinance he co-authored with BM Lucio Ayahao.

EMB believes that the head of the province must be one who was born and raised in Ifugao, one who feels the pulse of the people, and not one who merely wishes to be governor for obvious personal reasons. – marchfianza777@yahoo.com