by Dong de los Reyes November 20, 2022 Gumaca Mayor Webster Letargo (Photo from the Mayor FB) GUMACA, Quezon - Pre-election year budgets go ...
November 20, 2022
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| Gumaca Mayor Webster Letargo (Photo from the Mayor FB) |
GUMACA, Quezon - Pre-election year budgets go through thorough scrutiny lest funds be funneled for other purposes than public works.
At the provincial level, a ragtag crew of board members led by Isaias "Sonny: Ubana II made unflinching stand to block such budget, pointing to lump sums whose purported ends were inexplicable. In the consequent polls, Ubana and his colleagues- suspended by DILG for their stubborn stand- regained their board seats while the then-incumbent was unseated.
A similar scenario unfolded in Gumaca with officials who were elected with massive electoral support throwing the gauntlet on the town's pre-election budget. The same officials who took a hardline stance were ousted soundly in the ensuing local polls.
Incumbent Mayor Webster Letargo cited that the budget that he and his sanggunian colleagues had drawn up was a collective undertaking with people's organizations, coops, barangay officials, civil society, every Gumaca stakeholder. Thus, every peso of budget allocations are to be spent on public works and projects for weal of Gumaca residents.
Too, inputs from the local departments and offices went into the crafting of that budget- blocking it out of caprice or spite also meant blocking the people's will.
"Ang pondo ng gobyerno para sa tao. Hindi dapat harangin dahil sa kapritso. Naramdaman ng tao ang pagharang sa budget kaya patri mga konsehal na kumuha ng pinakamaraming boto ng mga nakalipas na eleksiyon, hindi na nakabalik," Letargo explained in an interview with Sentinel Times on Air broadcast on Cool 101.5 and Facebook.
Gumaca celebrated its 440th foundation year with plans afoot for the construction of a three-storey annex beside the 100-year-old municipio.
Too, the three-storey town public market is nearing completion, "parang mall po ang aming palengke," Letargo enthused.
Plans and projects
Letargo told Sentinel Times that massive evacuation of Gumaca residents were carried out before super typhoon Paeng howled through their town. Thus, there were zero human casualties.
However, some 2,000 houses were wrecked while about P10M worth of ripening palay and other cash crops were devastated.
In view of future onslaught of howlers, a low-cost housing project is in the works for an initial 100 families whose homes are mostly in the typhoon path and other high-risk areas.
Too, 800 families to be affected by the Philippine National Railway (PNR) extension project are to be moved to a relocation site that had been pinpointed. The National Housing Authority is lending its expertise in the low-cost housing subdivision.
Already, roads leading to the homesite had been built, Letargo added.
Gumaca recently hosted a fishery summit involving seaside towns that face their common fishing ground, Lamon Bay,
"Iisang Lamon Bay lang ang aming pangisdaan, kaya dapat magtulungan laban sa mga poachers, dapat sama-samang pangalagaan ng aming mga Bantay-Dagat.
Gumaca is the business and commercial center of Quezon province's districts 3 and 4. The strategic location has lured investors to set up establishments in Gumaca town.
Letargo pointed to the supermall-type enclave built by Puregold which has opened a grocery shop and spaces for lease to food outlets, clothing shops, and other businesses.
"We will give the investors all the help we can give, and ease of doing business with the municipality. We only ask the investors to employ local residents to bolster local incomes," he said.
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