Atty. MAXIMO JR Y. DALOG – Lawyer, Accountant, Public Servant

MAXIMO DALOG JR.’s life story is extraordinarily simple but one that stands out among the crowd. He certainly cares about Mountain Province more than any of his fellow candidates because he grew up here and was particularly raised in the capital town of Bontoc and the western municipality of Bauko.

Maximo Jr., 40 years old and married, is running in a crowded congressional race to replace Hon. Allen Jesse C. Mangaoang who took over as legislative caretaker of the lone district of Mountain Province vice the late Rep. Maximo Badecao Dalog, Sr., the former’s father, who died in June, 2016.

Popularly known as Maxi, he was born on April 10, 1978 to lawyer Maximo B. Dalog, Sr. of Bila, Bauko and teacher Cecilia Yawan of Bontoc Ili, Bontoc. He went to All Saints Mission Elementary School, Bontoc, Mountain Province and completed his high school education at Saint Louis University-Laboratory High School. At the same Catholic School, he also achieved his degrees in Bachelor of Science in Accountancy in 1999 and Bachelor of Laws in 2004. He passed both the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) board and bar examinations shortly after graduating in each course.

In 2009, he married Mary Grace Recaido Manzano, an Ilocana from Sta. Catalina and Tagudin, Ilocos Sur. Also a lawyer by profession, she is currently the Assistant Provincial Prosecutor of the Department of Justice-PPO, Mountain Province. They are blessed with four children namely: Maximo III, November Rayne, Mayumi Cordillera and Xam Likiti.

Maxi spent most of his life and career in public service in Mountain Province through the Department of Agriculture as Accountant I and at the Department of Agrarian Reform as Legal Officer V until his designation as OIC Provincial Agrarian Officer II. Variably, he spent some time in private practice at the Dalog Law Office giving legal assistances and services to indigent constituents of Mountain Province.

Though this is his first time to seek an elective post, Maxi is neither a neophyte nor a beginner in the political arena of Mountain Province as he had always been an aide and consultant to his father during the latter’s stint in public office. He had been to places high and low together with his father especially in the far-flung areas of Mountain Province. He met, talked and dined with people from all walks of life regardless of status, rank and identity.

After filing his candidacy, Maxi has often been compared to his father especially in terms of political willpower, wisdom, and style. Indeed both are particularly different but there is always a common distinctiveness between a father and a son. In this case, both have the passion to SERVE and WORK. Had it been that Maxi did not have any desire for public service, he could have easily opted to stay in the imperial city of Baguio or elsewhere to practice law and enrich himself with the power and wealth in the legal practice’s career path. Instead, he chose to come home after passing the bar and serve his fellow constituents in Mountain Province in the agrarian reform sector and legal services.

To those having doubts over his qualifications as a candidate, he has this to say: “My being young does not disqualify me from running for Congressman as you very well know that the work in Congress involves significant legislations in favor of our province and our country. I am not also new to the political showground as I have been materially and actively involved in the politics of Mountain Province since our father entered the same.”

Maxi intends to enter public office by ensuring the stability and sustainability of the programs and projects already initiated by the patriarch of the family especially in the areas of social services, medical assistance, educational assistance, infrastructure development, livelihood projects, trainings and employment, and the like.

Moreover, he wishes to introduce innovative measures that will favor Mountain Province and its constituents especially on the empowerment of the youth, women, senior citizens, LGBT, indigenous peoples, farmers and employees. He also wishes to carry on the hallmark flagship program anchored in the acronym PRESTIGE 2 with the following platform subject areas. And if elected, this is what Maxi intends and commits to achieve for the people of Mountain Province. 

PEACE AND ORDER AND PUBLIC SAFETY

- Promotion of peace and order through settlement of boundary and other tribal conflicts

- Preservation and Codification of customary and indigenous laws

RELIABLE, RESPONSIVE, AND EFFECTIVE LEADERSHIP

- Efficient delivery of public and social services

- Leadership by example

- Coordination and partnership with line agencies and other offices for the proper identification/implementation of government programs and projects.

EDUCATION, CULTURE, AND SPORTS

- Continue the Educational Assistance Program

- Promote non-formal education for Out-of-School Youths and the Alternative Learning System (ALS)

- Promote the preservation of culture through festivals and other indigenous sports

- Support the Alternative Learning System (ALS) mechanism

 SOCIAL SERVICES, HEALTH AND SANITATION

- Work for the upgrading of hospitals to improve the service facilities and professional healthcare therein

- Continue the Medical Assistance Program

TREASURY AND FINANCE

 - Institutionalize balanced budget spending

- Promote increase of income for the provincial government, MLGUs and BLGUs

 INFRASTRUCTURE, TOURISM DEVELOPMENT AND ENHANCEMENT OF COMMERCE, TRADE AND INDUSTRY

- Continue the construction/improvement/rehabilitation of national, provincial roads and bridges, school buildings, hospital buildings, etc.

- Promote energy development

- Work through legislation  the development of Tourism Sites and access

- Promotion of good business environment in the province

 GOOD GOVERNANCE

- Conduct frequent coordination and consultation with local officials and agencies for the     planning and implementation of government programs and projects.

 ECOLOGY AND AGRICULTURAL DEVELOPMENT

- Legislate on waste management programs and projects;

- Construction/Rehabilitation/Improvement of Farm to Market Roads;

On the controversial issue of PD 705 that prevents access to forest products,  Maxi wants to encourage/recommend/legislate the recognition of our “Batangan Sysytem” in Mountain Province wherein such approach has been practiced since time immemorial for the advancement of sustainable conservation, use, and management of our natural resources. Such would respect and sustain the resource rights of the ICCs/IPs through equitable access to natural resources. It is also for the fair benefit-sharing under the traditional forest management systems within the areas covered. Our great forebears taught us their own way of caring, preserving and protecting our natural resources by planting and cutting trees only when necessity dictates as in the construction of a house, but in return, new seedlings must be planted as replacement.  The cutting of trees, however, should be based on the sustainable customary laws for the proper use of natural resources as in planting, protecting, and harvesting activities. This way, we will be able to utilize our own natural resources.

On Cordillera Regional Autonomy, Maxi supports House Bill 5343, An Act Establishing the Autonomous Region for the Cordillera previously filed by the Representatives of the Cordillera including the late Maximo B. Dalog, Sr., a known advocate and champion of autonomy.

Autonomy has been the long-time desire and aspiration of our great forebears and of all of us in favor of a region of self-determination, therefore we continue expressing our staunch support to this house measure on the following grounds:

We perceive Cordillera autonomy as the most effective option to provide the region with the needed solid foundation to pursue sustainable development as the region hopes to benefit from the management and use of our natural resources. 

Cordillera autonomy will bring to the national attention as well as the benefits of accepting and promoting cultural diversity through the formulation of multi-cultural policies for indigenous peoples. Such therefore is the manifestation that regional autonomy is no longer a life-long dream but a vigorous desire; should be focused this time with expansive sectoral consultations, stronger information campaign to the grassroots, active participation and clearer understanding of autonomy by the people of the Cordilleras. It is very imperative and timely that an organic act for the creation of the Autonomous Region of the Cordillera be finally enacted.