LAZO: SP RESO TO SCRAP OPPOSITION TO HB 4660

  • About House Bill naming the Laoag By-Pass Road
    as Rodolfo G. Fariñas Jr. By-Pass Road or Highway

PROV’L CAPITOL, Laoag City, May 29–The Sangguniang Panglalawigan of Ilocos Norte will amend its provincial resolution to remove opposition to House Bill No. 4660 naming the new Laoag By-Pass road as Rodolfo G. Fariñas Jr. By-Pass Road or Highway, officials said.

Fariñas Jr. was the namesake son of Congressman Rodolfo Castro Fariñas (first district, Ilocos Norte), majority leader in the House of Representatives.

The young Fariñas served as president of Sangguniang Kabataan (SK) of Ilocos Norte, a position that mandated him to become an ex-oficio member of the SP-Ilocos Norte.

He died in a motorcycle accident on Nov. 15, 2015, near the ongoing 3.2-kilometer Laoag By-Pass road project connecting the city to adjacent Bacarra town.

“At an appropriate time, this (provincial) resolution will be amended to remove our opposition to HB 4660 but instead merely to give relevant information to the President of the Republic of the Philippines,” this was the exact statement of SP member Vicentito “Toto” Lazo.

Lazo, also an outspoken lawyer critic of the Fariñases, was locally televised as he uttered the said remarks during the SP regular session.

Lazo earlier claimed that Fariñas Jr. is not qualified to have his name for the road project citing a guideline of the National Historical Commission of the Philippines.

However, SP member Ria Fariñas, the lone opposition in the provincial board, defended her late brother saying he was a youth leader who uplifted his constituents’ welfare during his presidency in the SK and also as youth sectoral member of the SP-province.

The House Bill on the naming of the By-Pass road was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep. Romero “Miro” Quimbo, together with Rep. Celso Lobregat and Rep. Ronald Cosalan.

While in the Senate it was sponsored by Senator Emmanuel “Manny” Pacquiao. Records showed that both Houses later approved the Bill.

The HB said the late Rodolfo G. Fariñas Jr. was “a dedicated public servant as SK president of Ilocos Norte, who pushed for local reform, stimulated participative governance and initiative in the youth of Ilocos Norte.”

“This Billi is a tribute to his life and accomplishments and that even in his death he will be remembered as a man of service through the By-Pass Road,” it said.

It added that the said By-Pass Road project in Laoag was realized under the term of Congressman Fariñas. (tri-media report)