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.
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