‘Give chance to younger leaders’

LETTERS FROM THE AGNO

Mach Fianza

LA TRINIDAD, Benguet -- Unless he changes his mind, three-termer Representative Ronald M. Cosalan of Benguet is no longer vying for any position in the 2019 midterm elections to “give way to new and younger leaders”.

              This was the congressman’s statement during a casual interview with him last week. He is 66 years old, a stage which is still young when considering a political position such as congressman. Although, he is very much qualified to vie for any position in Benguet.

For some, his statement is welcome to a certain extent as it gives them a sigh of relief after a short period of not getting any answers to the question “is he running for any position?”

Since it is now Cosalan’s last and third term as congressman of Benguet, there were loud undertones in the middle of this year that he might go against incumbent Benguet Governor Crescencio C. Pacalso.

However, this did not sit well with both of their supporters who voted for them to win as congressman and governor in 2016, respectively, even while they belonged to different political parties.

Congressman Cosalan in his good sense knew that it was not wise to run for governor as this will make his supporters and that of Gov. Pacalso become a splintered group.

In case that turns out to be the political scenario in 2019, supporters and voters of both politicians will find themselves on opposite sides. Once again, Benguet will be fractured – a situation that a majority of the province’s constituents will certainly frown on.

I believe it was the congressman’s silent way of conveying to Gov. Pacalso that he should continue on, even while the elections of 2013 is still fresh in him and in the minds of voters in and around Benguet when he (Gov. Pacalso) ran against him for the congressional seat.    

As for the fight for the position of congressman in 2019, it looks like a road to congress with not so many stumbling blocks for former governor Fongwan. But that maybe easily said because there are other talented politicians who might be pushed and supported into running for the same seat.

The likes of Mankayan Mayor Materno Luspian and Itogon Mayor Vic Palangdan were among those rumored as interested politicos who may slug it out for the lone congressional seat in Benguet. However, the road to glory that remained steadily cold has to be warmed up.   

Lately, I was told that Gov. Pacalso and some incumbent politicians in Benguet linked with the “Hugpong Pagbabago” party of Davao Mayor Sara Duterte. In a scenario where there will be no rival bets for the congressional seat, the governor might probably be convinced to fight the former governor.

               It is a fight that is supposed to happen later in the future but it can happen now. It could be the battle Benguet is waiting for. In case that will be so, I feel that many will contribute their time, effort and even their last peso to their favorite bet.   

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When the steady rainfalls brought by Typhoon Ompong caused landslides in many parts of Benguet, there were netizens on social media who apparently used the situation to hit Congressman Cosalan.

Just because he was nowhere around the Ucab landslide and the Bua operations center, these scheming people turned to making baseless comments on Facebook.

The truth is that the congressman was going around monitoring the situation with other line department officials. In that brief talk last week, he said he asked public officials to re-open and repair the Baguio-Bua-Itogon road as soon as possible in order that activities in Itogon will normalize faster.  

The congressman is not the kind who will appear in a rescue operation and unduly benefit from an unfortunate situation such as the Ucab landslide. He is not the kind who takes “selfies” and pictures of himself holding a shovel for “photo ops”, just like what some epal (shameless, self-promoting) politicians do.  

By the way, while rescue operations were continuing in many parts of the Cordillera, Kabayan lawyer Lilian Oliva-Kato was distributing relief goods to students at the Benguet Capitol.

The relief goods were given to Kabayan students who were likewise stranded because they cannot go home to get supplies. At least five barangays in Kabayan were isolated due to road-cuts caused by Typhoon Ompong.

Because of the Kabayan situation, I was reminded of HB 01093 filed by Congressman Cosalan which called for the establishment of the Kabayan State Polytechnic College. The proposed bill that was filed after the 2016 elections is now pending with the Committee on Higher and Technical Education.

               Benguet has only one state college that is located in La Trinidad which is far from Kabayan. With that, prospective college students have to travel far just to pursue a college degree. Of course, they have to spend much considering the distance and road conditions between the municipalities in Benguet, especially during calamities.

              HB 01093 is the appropriate step in making higher education accessible to the Kabayan youth, as well the neighboring towns of Buguias and Bokod and the provinces of Ifugao and Nueva Viscaya, especially in bad weather.

Meanwhile, from the elections in 2016, Cosalan authored and filed some 65 House Bills and co-authored another 47 bills.