Tuesday, September 19, 2017
By Teresa D. Ellera

THIRD District Representative Alfredo Benitez said Monday that about 9,000 local officials in Negros Occidental will join the mass oath-taking of the ruling Partido Demokratiko Pilipino-Lakas ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) on October 5 at the Victorias City Coliseum.

Benitez said House Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez, party secretary-general, will swear in the incoming PDP-Laban members in the province.

Senate President Aquilino Pimentel III, president of PDP-Laban, has also been invited to the oath-taking rites.

Benitez said there is an ongoing mass-oath taking of PDP-Laban members all over the country.

The controversies involving some PDP-Laban officials in Manila have not affected the recruitment of more members, he added.

Housing inquiry

Benitez, chairman of House committee on housing and urban development, said they will continue with the inquiry on the delayed and substandard housing units intended for the victims of Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) four years ago.

He said that during his personal visit to Tacloban City, he discovered that a number of victims are still staying in temporary shelters because up to this time, the government has not provided them housing units.

Benitez noted that the previous administration allocated with Special Release Allotment Order the amount of P6 billion for the rehabilitation of Yolanda-affected areas but only about 23 percent of the housing units are occupied.