Tuesday, August 28, 2007 Mapiles: Working Dong By Joel P. Mapiles Soft Touch and Views
THE people in the third district of Pampanga are so lucky with their newly elected Representative in the House of Congress. They have their working congressman who wastes no time, but takes advantage of every single day to look after the general welfare of his constituents in cooperation and regular consultation with the local officials in his district. He is a man they can count on in times of calamity and prosperity.
Upon assumption to office, Congressman Dong Gonzales has shown enthusiasm and interest not just on legislative works but most importantly, he finds ways and means on how he could contribute more for the development of every municipality.
We can say that one of his landmark bills in Congress is his P1-billion proposal to rehabilitate and restore the old glory of Bacolor which, I think, he dubbed, "Ibalik ang Dating Sigla ng Makasaysayang Bayan ng Bacolor." It can be noted that this historic town of Bacolor was once the seat of government and capital of the Philippines.
The congressman is optimistic that with the support of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, his fellow lawmakers, local officials and townsfolk and dynamic leadership of Mayor Buddy Dungca, Bacolor will become one of the fastest growing towns not just in his district but in entire Pampanga.
Recently, as typhoon Chedeng and Dodong hit the province and wrecked and breached the Gugu dike in Bacolor and other creeks in the third district, the congressman immediately called for an emergency flood summit with the local officials, municipal engineers, agriculture and public works officials to find out the extent of damages in every town.
He urged the assistance of all concerned to come up with long term and immediate solutions to this problem.
It was learned that after his meeting with the public works secretary and Congressman Mikey Arroyo, Representative Gonzales continued inspection on damaged dikes and scoured portions of the Abacan River which caused flooding in Mexico.
Dong works with optimism that the President is upbeat in helping this province to solve this perennial problem on flooding. He also urged the DPWH to design a workable and doable province-wide flood mitigation program to this effect.
Gonzales also laid down plans to map out a comprehensive master plan to make his district flood-free through the construction of major flood-control structures.
Recently, Gonzales filed House Resolution 136 directing the House committee on public works to immediately conduct an inquiry into the state of the country's bridges to determine their structural soundness.
This only shows that people in his district made the right choice for their man in Congress. He is not just a congressman who filed several bills in his two-month stint in Congress but he is also the most visible and has the best performance as far as emergency response is concerned in his district.
We can say now that electing Dong is one of the most important things that happened in the third district. Dong is everywhere in times of calamity. He is here and there not just to comfort his people but to work hard for their safety and convenience.
Dong is not just the man of engineering profession but he has also the interest and compassion in the field of education, agriculture and health.
With these initial accomplishments he has done for his people, Dong can be called "Mr. Performance" or shall we say a "Working Dong" who sincerely commits his time, guts and especially his skills for the best interest of his district and for the welfare of his people. Keep it up.
For me this lawmaker is working hard not because he is being compelled to do so but he wants to be true to his divine commitment to his people and his Creator. It's a destiny and he has to be sincere with it.
If you have any comment, you can email the author at joeley01@yahoo.com or text at 0921-519-92-23
