BACOLOD, Philippines–House Speaker Ferdinand Martin Romualdez, on Wednesday, September 4, designated Abang Lingkod Representative Joseph Stephen Paduano as caretaker of the 3rd Congressional District of Negros Occidental.
The congressional seat of Negros Occidental became vacant after then-representative Jose Francisco Benitez was appointed director general of Technical Education and Skills Development Authority (TESDA) on August 25.
Paduano, a Negrense himself, and a known political ally of the Benitezes in Negros, was the unanimous choice of Romualdez and Majority Leader Manuel Jose Dalipe.
“Paduano was an excellent choice by the House leadership,” Benitez said in a statement on Wednesday night, September 4.
“I have full confidence in the ability of Congressman Paduano in representing the best interest of the people of the 3rd District, ” the new TESDA chief said.
Benitez added Paduano would diligently shepherd and monitor the implementation, progress and completion of projects and programs that Benitez started, ensuring that their shared vision for the district is fulfilled until the end of the 19th Congress in June 2025.
Paduano, in a phone interview on Thursday, September 5, told Rappler that he was grateful for the endorsement made by Benitez, and also for the trust and confidence extended to him by Romualdez.
Naming him as a caretaker of the 3rd district in Negros Occidental was more than just a privilege, but an added responsibility to take good care of the welfare of the people in the cities of Silay, Talisay, and Victorias as well as in towns of Murcia and EB Magalona.
Paduano said he would talk with Benitez to know what programs and projects are needed to be prioritized in the 3rd District for the nine remaining months prior to the midterm elections next year.
“I will see to it that all his (Benitez) legislative agenda for the 3rd District are carried out under my watch now,” he said.
Paduano, a nephew of the late chairperson of the Commission on Elections (COMELEC) Haydee Yorac, is also concluding his third and final term as party-list representative in June next year.
thus rumored to run for vice mayor in Bacolod in the upcoming midterm elections.
Paduano was a former top leader of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Bongcayao Brigade (RPA-ABB), a breakaway faction of the mainstream Communist Party of the Philippines-New People’s Army (CPP-NPA) prior to entering politics in 2016. – Rappler.com