Wednesday, August 01, 2007 A distraction, says Benhur on Tining protest
REP. Benhur Salimbangon (Cebu, fourth district) is merely laughing off the election protest filed against him by Celestino “Tining” Martinez III, his opponent in the last elections.
Salimbangon said it is Tining’s right to file the protest but for him, this is only Martinez’s way of distracting him from focusing on his job, making him unable to deliver services.
Moreover, Salimbangon commented that the grounds the Martinezes used in filing the protest are the things that Martinez’s camp allegedly did in the elections.
The protest that Martinez filed before the House of Representative Electoral Tribunal (HRET) stated that there were “various electoral frauds and anomalies consisting of rampant vote buying, violence, intimidation upon voters and the members of the Board of Election Inspectors as well as rampant violations of election laws, rules and resolution issued by the Commission on Elections” perpetrated by the Salimbangon’s camp.
“Nabali man hinuon na. Ako man unta angay mosulti ana...I’m not bothered with that kay nahibalo ang katawhan kun kinsa ang nagbinuang. Normal na nila (to file a protest) kay gamhanan man na sila,” Salimbangon told Sun.Star Cebu. (It’s the other way around. I should be the one to make those accusations against them. But I’m not bothered, as the people know who were committing fraud.)
He will let his lawyers handle the matter, saying he will now devote all his time for work.
He just submitted his request to the committee on appropriation for the release of P3 million from his discretionary funds for the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) so that his constituents can be accommodated in the hospital.
He also distributed application forms for his constituents so they will have a card that will be shown to the hospital as proof that they are from the fourth district.
Each patient will be entitled to P5,000 worth of hospital benefits for minor cases and P10,000 for major cases.
He has also started working on the livelihood projects he will implement in the district, to address child labor.
He admitted that child labor is prevalent in his district especially in sugar plantations because parents are forced to send their children to work instead of sending them to school.
Salimbangon also said he will be building more barangay high schools so more people can afford to send their children to school.
Salimbangon will also be going to China to invite investors. He is confident that with good infrastructure in place, and if the bill making Cebu an economic zone will be passed, they will be able to attract more investors. (MBG)
