Well-meaning citizens of Benguet alerted me on a Facebook propaganda page, hiding behind the guise of a “personal blog” and operating in anonymity that attempts to distort the truth. This page has circulated a screenshot of an erroneous Philippine News Agency (PNA) headline, claiming that during my tenure as Congressman, PHP45 billion was allocated for infrastructure projects in our province.
This claim is not only patently false, it is also deliberately malicious.
The records of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2018 – as well as those prior to 2018 – are publicly available and open for anyone to verify.
A simple check of official data in the above-mentioned documents, will show there was no such P45 billion allocation for Benguet.
The post is not mere carelessness by a group of fanatic supporters – it is propaganda carefully designed to mislead, to disinform, and to distract us from the real and urgent issue: the anomalous infrastructure projects and other projects all over the Philippines, Benguet included, today.
I urge the people of Benguet, supporter or not, to be more vigilant, to demand truth and transparency, and to reject the lies of faceless operators who seek to muddle facts for their own ends.
We must not allow deceiving schemes to bury the accountability of those who are truly responsible of misleading and robbing our fellow yBenguet.- Atty. Ronald M. Cosalan
