ROAD TO DEVELOPMENT
By June S. Blanco
IT PAYS to work closely with the visionary, planner and implementor.
Rep. Erico Aristotle Aumentado (Bohol, 2nd District) may be into his first term yet as congressman. But unlike some of his neophyte colleagues, he has been way ahead in learning the ropes for the job.
He had been doing some legwork for his father, Rep. Erico Boyles Aumentado in his both his capacities as son and as chief of staff. He held the latter position until his father died on Christmas Day in 2012 – a few months before the 2013 elections.
The family and party consensus saw him as the replacement candidate. The rest, as the saying goes, is history.
Aumentado was there when his father conceptualized, shepherded through gestation and implemented his mega projects – the Bohol Circumferential Road Phases 1 and 2 that now provides safe and convenient travel in less time, the Bohol Irrigation Project Phases 1 and 2 that have saved the crops of the farmers during long dry seasons, the Leyte-Bohol Interconnection Project Stages 1 and 2 that now supplies 100 megawatts of power for the province’s demand, and parallel infrastructure.
The elder solon had always said development can only be achieved with the attendant infrastructure in place.
The younger Aumentado said these infrastructure – already laid out – have made the Boholanos’ life easier. At the same time, he admits that these are far from complete, and he is even exploring ways to add more locally generated power, more upgraded roads, irrigation, school buildings and bridges including the proposed 17-kilometer Bohol-Cebu Bridge anchoring in Getafe town in northern Bohol and Cordova in Cebu.
But in a parallel move, he has been pushing for the doubling of the 2016 budget for livelihood projects of the Technical Education and Skills Development Administration (Tesda) and the Departments of Labor and Employment (Dole) and of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD).
To note, he has been tapping the three agencies for livelihood funding for people’s organizations and associations in his district. This means, he has been giving out fund assistance for start-up capital for his constituents who belong to organized groups even in the absence of Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) or pork barrel by whatever name it is called.
The Supreme Court had declared the PDAF to be unconstitutional. Funds previously given to congressmen for their discretionary fund are now given to the different departments.
These funds are what Aumentado has been tapping to help especially his Yolanda-hit constituents to be back on their feet again. --- END
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