Masangkay dares rival to jogging match

Muntinlupa mayoralty challenger Bess Aguilar Masangkay yesterday dared incumbent Mayor Jaime Fresnedi to a jogging match as she laughed off the mayor’s allegation that she is unfit to become mayor due to poor health.

Aguilar Masangkay also accused Fresnedi of concocting lies to deflect issues of corruption and ineptitude raised against him by City Hall insiders. "Kung gusto niya mag-jogging kami anytime, at tingnan natin kung hanggang saan siya tatagal (If he wants, we can go jogging anytime and we’ll see how long he will last)," she said.

Aguilar Masangkay urged Fresnedi to confront legitimate issues being raised against him, particularly the existence of "ghost" employees and alleged kickbacks in city government projects.

She reiterated her challenge for Fresnedi to account for how the P1.1 billion city government budget was spent in the face of the lack of any tangible project in the suburban city.

Fresnedi had denied allegation of anomalies in the city government and claimed that Aguilar Masangkay was fabricating her figures.

A successful businesswoman and topnotch accountant, Aguilar Masangkay said she was constrained to run for mayor to give the people an "alternative" to what she called an inept and corrupt city administration.

She added that the people are clamoring for change and will not be misled by Fresnedi’s "unkind attacks" about her health.

Meanwhile, Las Piñas congressional candidate Cynthia Villar challenged her opponent, Tony Tamayo to stop the alleged "propaganda war" between them and stick to legitimate issues during the campaign.

She said Tamayo’s camp should stop fabricating lies and baseless accusations regarding her and instead talk about his platform of government that will benefit the people of Las Piñas.

"We’re talking about performance here. Most Las Pineros are aware of my good credentials and track record. They are also aware of the outstanding team up of Mayor Vergel Aguilar and former Speaker Manny Villar. I want to be part of that performance team," Mrs. Villar said.

Mrs. Villar has actively helped in pursuing the programs of her husband Manny for Las Piñas during his entire three terms as congressman. She has been very active in various socio-civic projects that have provided assistance to the needy people of Las Piñas. She is the president of Villar Foundation whose projects include Sagip Bukas, an anti-drug abuse program, Manpower on Wheels (MOW) a livelihood training project, Pagtatanim Para sa Kinabukasan, a tree planting project, and various dental and medical missions to address the health needs of poor Las Piñas residents, among others.

As a congresswoman, Cynthia stressed that she will pursue programs to improve free health services, free education, Depressed Area Electrification Program (DAEP), Community Mortgage Program (CMP), Infrastructure, Cleanliness and Environmental protection and waste management, and the Las Piñas Historical corridor for tourism and culture.