PALAYAN CITY , Philippines – Board members from both the dominant Lakas-CMD bloc and the Bagong Lakas ng Nueva Ecija in the 14-man Sangguniang Panlalawigan will be provided with a service vehicle each courtesy of the provincial government to enhance their mobility.
Vice Gov. Jose Gay Padiernos announced this development, saying Gov. Aurelio Umali has allocated funds for the acquisition of vehicles.
Padiernos did not say how much has exactly been allocated for the vehicles but said each of the board members would be provided with at least an Innova, which roughly, costs P800,000 per unit.
“I have already instructed the preparation of the purchase request (PR) for these vehicles and hopefully, each one of them can drive an Innova for their use in going out to the barangays,” he said.
He said Umali did not leave out a single board member from the vehicle program, even if some of them are from his rival camp.
Among the beneficiaries of the vehicle purchase are six neophyte board members – Estrellita Suansing, Eduardo Rey Joson, Edgardo Agliam, Johnero Mercado, Myrna Corpuz and the governor’s younger brother, Emmanuel Antonio Umali.
Old-timers in the SP are board members Joseph Ortiz, Romanito Juatco, Teresita Patiag and Edmund Abesamis.
At the same time, Padiernos said the provincial general services office should account for the vehicles that have not been returned by some board members from the previous batch. He said some of the vehicles had already been returned to the SP while some are in repair shops.