Garcia hires Benhur as consultant

CEBU, Philippines — Former Cebu 4th District congressman Benhur Salimbangon has accepted the offer of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to be one of her consultants.

Unlike the other consultants, however, Salimbangon only gets one peso a year.

Garcia announced during her visit to Bantayan Island last Monday that the former congressman will serve as her consultant for the 4th district.

Salimbangon said the governor invited him to be her consultant considering that he does not anymore hold a public office.

“Ingon ko one peso a year, I will accept it. So mao na. Nikatawa siya,” Salimbangon told reporters.

The former congressman said he will immediately start his role as district consultant as soon as he received his formal appointment. Salimbangon admitted he already served as Garcia’s campaign consultant in the last elections. He said he was one of those who encouraged the governor to run again,

In fact, his name first came up as Garcia’s possible running mate. His daughter, Daphne, eventually became Garcia’s vice gubernatorial candidate.

Salimbangon maintains that his eyes are set on the fourth district only. When asked if he has any plans to run for any position in the provincial government in the future, he immediately dismissed the possibility.

“Mao nang ako gyud nang gipa-emphasize, consultant for the Fourth District,” he said.

According to Salimbangon, among his plans for the district is to make Bantayan as an economic zone.

“Ang economic development jud sa atong district which will help our young students nga ig-human nila og graduate, dinhi na manrabaho,” he said.

Part of the projects that would comprise of this endeavor is the upgrading of the Bantayan General Hospital from a 25-bed capacity to a 100-bed hospital and the construction of a circumferential road.

“We started this already three years ago... ug mahuman lang ni... sayon na lang kaayo sa atong turista magtuyok-tuyok,” he said.

Salimbangon also mentioned that this goal of upgrading Bantayan to an economic zone is the reason why he was against the Metro Cebu Development Program.

Salimbangon explained that the concentration of development in the Metro Cebu is the reason for the traffic problem currently experienced by the metro cities and municipalities.

“Bring them to the countryside, niingon ang atong President that it is about time that economic zones should already be spread,” Salimbangon said. — FPL (FREEMAN)