• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The House of Representatives will bring its nationwide legislative consultation and oversight initiative, LegisHear, to Victorias City on Oct. 2 and 3, marking its first stop in Negros Occidental.
The Third District of Negros Occidental will host the activity following its opening leg in Koronadal City, South Cotabato.
House Speaker Faustino “Bojie” Dy III and Senior Deputy Speaker Ferdinand Hernandez are expected to attend the two-day event.
For Dy, the visit will mark his return to Negros Occidental after 47 years.
He last visited the province in 1979, Third District Rep. Javier Miguel Benitez said in a statement Thursday.
“Forty-seven years later, he returns to bring Congress directly to our people,” he added.
The LegisHear town hall at the Victorias City Coliseum will give residents an opportunity to raise questions about measures pending in Congress and issues affecting the district, including sugar, employment, health and education.
Focus group discussions and government service availment will follow at Victorias National High School.
National government agencies will provide services during the two-day activity.
House Secretary General Atty. Cheloy Velicaria-Garafil, legislators from across the Negros Island Region and lawmakers from other provinces are also expected to participate, with services open to the public on the second day.
Among the Negros Island Region (NIR) legislators who will join are Deputy Speaker Alfredo Abelardo Benitez and Deputy Speaker Mercedes Alvarez.
The younger Benitez also cited the latest OCTA Research survey, which he said recorded an 82-percent satisfaction rating for district representatives in the NIR, the highest among regions covered by the survey.
“Our constituents set that standard, and my fellow Negrosanon legislators and I intend to keep it,” Benitez said.
He invited residents of the Third District and other parts of Negros Occidental to attend the town hall, raise their concerns and avail themselves of government services.
The town hall will also be streamed live for those unable to attend in person. | GPB
