Prayer rally urges Benhur's sis to challenge Bogo mayor

CEBU, Philippines - Close to 3,000 people in Bogo joined in yesterday’s prayer rally at the San Vicente Ferrer Parish calling for honest and peaceful election next year and asking businesswoman and philanthropist Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung to seek the mayoralty post in the said town.

Request for Mrs. Yeung to change her mind and agree to the people’s call was written on placards and posters. Yeung is a registered voter of barangay Taytayan in Bogo.

Those who attended the prayer rally and the Holy Mass, officiated by Msgr. Jojo Dosado, were residents from the 29 barangays in Bogo. Malingin barangay captain Marilyn Calidquid told The FREEMAN that yesterday’s prayer rally is a confirmation that they are convincing Yeung to seek the mayoralty seat in their place.Calidquid said she and the other residents in Bogo met recently with Yeung and asked her to run for mayor.

Though Yeung did not say “no” to their request, Calidquid said she is positive that the sister of Cebu fourth district Rep. Benhur Salimbangon is weighing her options.According to Calidquid, she and the other barangay officials and concerned residents of Bogo town urged Yeung to run for mayor because they believe that she can introduce changes in Bogo.“Pait kaayo ang Bogo sa pagka karon, hinungdan nga panahon na nga adunay bag-ong modumala sa lungsod ug maghatag og dakong kausaban,” Calidquid said. Meanwhile, 78-year-old Teresita Tepait, a resident of Taytayan said that she and her neighbors joined in yesterday’s prayer rally hoping they can deliver a message to Yeung.She said that it’s “proper time now to change the leadership in Bogo who is for the people.”

For her part, Visitacion  Conson, 78, a resident of barangay Pulangbato told The FREEMAN that they hope that Mrs. Yeung will finally give in to their request.

Rep. Salimbangon who attended the rally told The FREEMAN that he will relay the message to his sister. Yeung is still out of the country.Aside from the prayer rally, residents there also initiated a signature campaign to gather support to convince Yeung.If Yeung agrees, she will be challenging reelectionist Mayor Celestino Martinez, Jr.

Yeung is the third child of the late Martin Salimbangon and Milagros Salimbangon. She was born on March 2, 1952 in Curva, Medellin town.She described her early years with siblings Benhur, Cesare, Danilo, Edwin and Freddie to be simple, with her father, a public school teacher and farmer, the family’s sole breadwinner.

Yeung is a teacher by profession but never gained any teaching experience in school after graduating from the University of San Carlos . She devoted her time to her three children - Carla, now 24; Martin, 23; and Jewel, 21 - after she married Hong Kong-based businessman Carlos Yeung at age 25. She said she used to be a full-fledged housewife, attending only to the needs of her husband and children, while doing charity work through her Mariquita Salimbangon-Yeung Charitable Foundation, Inc.

She decided to join her husband in business when she agreed to chair the Mactan Island Memorial Garden project of the Solid Partners Real Estate Developers. — Jose P. Sollano/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)