Cebu City Councilor Franklyn Ong in a press conference in Barangay Adlaon on July 10, 2021.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Councilor Franklyn Ong, president of the Liga nga mga Barangay (LNB), said he was open to running for a higher position where he might be able to serve Cebuanos better.
This was his response to the call of a farmer’s association asking him to run for a higher position, either a mayoral or vice-mayoral position.
Eleseo Cantano, president of the Cebu City Farmer’s Federation, said that Ong had been “committed” to serving the residents of the mountain barangays, who were often forgotten by many politicians, who were more focused in the progress of the urban areas.
“Dako kaayo among pasalamat ni Konsehal Franklyn Ong. Unta og modagan siyag mas taas nga posisyon,” said Cantano.
(We are grateful for Councilor Franklyn Ong. We hope that he would run for a higher position.)
Ong was in Barangay Adlaon to turn over a truck to the Cebu City Farmers’ Federation as a form of assistance to the members of the city-wide federation.
The truck was the second donation of Ong to the federation. The first one being in Barangay Sudlon I and II in the South District where the truck were for farmers bringing their goods to the city center.
“Akong gipangutana si (former) Councilor Alvin Arcilla unsay gyoy kinahanglan sa atong mga mag-uuma, ni ana siya nako nga kailangan gyod kaayo silag truck nga magdala sa ilang mga harvest padung sa Carbon,” he said.
(I asked [former] Councilor Alvin Arcilla what the farmers really need, and he told me that they would need a truck that would bring their harvest to Carbon [Market].)
Ong used his own funds to purchase the trucks, saying that he did not want to wait for the city government to do the purchasing because it could take time. Each truck cost around P700,000 to P900,000 each.
“Nakita man gyod nato nga kinahanglan kaayo nila so nitabang ta. Wala na ta naghulat pa,” he said.
(We saw that they really needed this, so we helped them. We did not wait anymore [for the city government].)
The members of the Cebu City Farmers’ Federation are grateful for the the new truck donated by Cebu City Councilor Franklyn Ong.
He also found out that the federation used to have a city-issued truck in the time of former mayor, Tomas Osmeña, which was later recalled when Mayor Edgardo Labella took over the city.
The members of the federation claimed this was true but the City Agriculture Department (CAD) had not confirmed the confiscation of the city-issued trucks.
For Ong, the new trucks would help the farmers, who extremely suffered through the pandemic without the means to deliver their goods at an affordable rate.
The management and maintenance of the trucks are left under the federation’s hands especially its board members.
Ong said that his party, Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), had not decided on their final line-up yet and he would trust Osmeña to make the right decision for the party.
“I’m open to whatever God will give to me — the calling from God and my calling as a public servant, any opportunity to serve (and) to apply my God’s gift and talent to serve the Cebuanos,” he said.
Ong said that he was honored that he had gained the farmers’ trust and confidence to serve them in a higher position.
Still, Ong said he was hesitant to declare his preference over which position he would want to run for, as mayor or vice mayor of the city.
This he said he would leave to the BO-PK party to decide on as a “family.”
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