The Official Website of Rene Relampagos

One of the rare opportunities given Cong. Rene L. Relampagos during his first term as neophyte lawmaker is his Chairmanship of the Committee on Human Rights

Seventy percent (70%) of the voters of the First District of Bohol will re-elect Cong. Rene L. Relampagos as their representative while only 21% prefer contender Mayor Dan Neri Lim, HNU Research Center revealed during the Bohol Poll Pre-Election period presentation last Friday. The said survey conducted from April 21 – May 5, 2013 also raised the eyebrows of political observers that even in the City of Tagbilaran where Mayor Dan Lim is the mayor, an overwhelmingly high percentage of 75% will vote for his contender Cong. Relampagos as their first district representative, while a very low 20% will vote for Dan Lim. Cong. Relampagos’ current rating of 70% is 8 points higher than his previous rating in March which was 62 %, while Dan Lim’s rating decreased even more, from 24% to only 21% now. The said survey also showed that Cong. Relampagos scored way higher than Lim in all the groups that participated in the survey. He was assured very high percentage of votes in both urban and rural, in all economic classes, both male and female and in all age brackets. He gained an extremely high percentage of 89 % among aged 18-24, followed by 82 % among Class ABC and aged 25-34.

The increase in the percentage gained by Cong. Relampagos made him and his supporters happy because despite the sensational yet unfeasible promises given by Dan Lim’s group to the voters, many of the voters still know what leadership and public service mean. Cong. Relampagos said he interprets the high percentage of 70 % as a genuine acknowledgement and appreciation of his constituents to his sincere service to them. He added that he is happy because his constituents have seen his efforts in the implementation of his various programs and projects and that they understand that Cong. Relampagos has a strong and clear vision for his district and that he is the best choice if they want continuous progress in the district. When pressed to comment on his overwhelming high percentage of 75 % voters’ preference in Tagbilaran City, Cong. Relampagos said, “I think the answer is very clear and I will put it simply: The people in Tagbilaran have tried and tested Dan Lim’s brand of leadership and they don’t want him to propagate it to an even larger extent as first district representative, for this matter. The numbers are just confirming the very loud cry of the people of Tagbilaran for change.”

Cong. Relampagos also expressed elation that other Liberal Party bets are leading in the survey. His brother in law and LP’s Tagbilaran city mayoralty bet, Atty. Dodong Gonzaga is also leading in the survey with a percentage of 47 % against two other contenders, Baba Yap and Abe Lim who gained 28 % and 16 % of the votes respectively. Finally, Cong. Relampagos expressed gratitude to those who continue to believe in his abilities and dedication as a public servant. He also thanked God for a bigger chance to continue to serve as first district representative for another term. He added that in fact, he is thankful to Him for guiding him during his first-term as a neophyte lawmaker and for having given him rare opportunities. Some of those rare opportunities are his chairmanship of one of the standing house committees, the Committee on Human Rights wherein as chairman, he was able to enact two important laws: the “Anti-enforced Disappearance Act of 2012” and the “Human Rights Victims Reparation and Recognition Act of 2013” which Pres. Benigno S. Aquino III signed in time for the EDSA Celebration this year. He was also appointed to be Head of the Secretariat of the Prosecution Panel during former Chief Justice Corona’s impeachment trial that earned him a formal recognition by the House of Representatives led by House Speaker Sonny Belmonte. Despite being a neophyte lawmaker, he was able to author 32 laws, 19 of which have national significance while 13 have local significance. Likewise, he was able to co-author 98 laws. Cong. Relampagos was also key in making direct flights from countries like South Korea to Bohol happen soon. Cong. Relampagos acknowledged that indeed the mighty hands of God have been with him in his service and he said that this alone encourages him and motivates him to try harder for another term. Finally, Cong. Relampagos continues to appeal for a peaceful and honest election on Monday.

Author: Jill Christianae R. Robinson

Cong. Rene L. Relampagos with Batangas Governor Vilma Santos

Dan Lim’s satisfaction rating and Tagbilaran City’s performance ratings aroused unpleasant reactions from the audience during the presentation of Holy Name University Research Center’s Bohol Poll 2013 at the HNU Main Building last April 3, 2013. The crowd cheered for high performance ratings of the Provincial Government and high satisfaction ratings of other public officials like Gov. Edgar M. Chatto who got a satisfaction rating of +83 being the Governor of Bohol and re-electionist Rep. Rene L. Relampagos who garnered a satisfaction rating of +51 as Bohol’s First District Representative. But when the ratings of Mayor Dan Lim who is Cong. Relampagos’ contender in the first district congressional race, were revealed, the crowd expressed dismay shaking their heads looking at Dan Lim’s very low ratings.

The said survey that was conducted from March 2-22, 2013 revealed that people in Tagbilaran City gave their City Mayor a satisfaction rating of Negative 2. It also showed that most economic classes, male or female and age brackets gave him negative ratings. The lowest rating of Negative 24 was given by respondents aged 35-44, followed by Negative 16 given by the males. Class ABC gave Dan Lim a negative 12 while Class D gave him a Negative 5. Aged 18-24 and 45 & above gave him a rating of zero. The said survey also showed Dan Lim’s decreasing satisfaction ratings in a period of three years. In 2011, he had a rating of Positive 43 which decreased to Positive 36 in 2012 and further decreased with 38 points, to Negative 2 in 2013.

What also shocked the audience is the super low performance rating of Tagbilaran City in Reducing Graft and Corruption which is Negative 33. Eyebrows also raised upon looking at the decreasing performance ratings of the city in reducing graft and corruption in a span of 5 years. In 2009, its performance rating was Negative 7, Negative 20 in 2010, Negative 28 in 2011, Negative 17 in 2012 and Negative 33 in 2013. This has only confirmed people’s remarks that there is much corruption in the City of Tagbilaran under the leadership of Mayor Dan Lim. This has also made them ask, “What has Dan Lim been doing that it has come to this extent?”

Political observers remarked that such ratings have embarrassed not only Mayor Dan Lim but also the City of Tagbilaran. They added that the numbers have only confirmed the hearsays about Dan Lim’s failure to address the pressing needs of his city and to make it achieve its highest potential. They said that the bad roads alone will tell you much about his lack of political will being the Chief Executive of Tagbilaran City. He simply wasted nine years, much resources and a lot of opportunities. He just let almost a decade’s worth of progress for the city to go down the drain. They explained further that it is perhaps understandable for a leader to have a negative rating maybe once in a span of five years but a decreasing rating could only mean that Mayor Dan Lim ignored the people’s opinion as shown through the decreasing ratings and did not do anything to bring the honor back to his city.

Cong. Relampagos said that Mayor Dan Lim must have been blind at one point to fail to see that the rest of the towns of Bohol have been striving for progress so they could be at par with Bohol’s rise to be the prime eco-cultural tourism destination in the country. With Dan Lim’s incapacity to lead the city successfully has crippled not only Tagbilaran City but the entire province at one point. Cong. Relampagos added, “How could he cooperate with the efforts of other officials like Gov. Chatto and me when he spent all his time criticizing us? How could have Mayor Dan Lim cared about what the people thought about his leadership when he would bash those who would give him negative feedbacks? How could Dan Lim have considered the bad roads as a serious problem when all he could tell the people is, ‘Kamo nala’y pag-mayor! Akong tapakan inyong mga nawong diha ron.’?”

Political observers said that Dan Lim’s failed leadership in the city of Tagbilaran for a total of nine years is deeply rooted in his pride. He never listened to the people. He always defended himself and never did anything to address their concerns. There was however one thing that he did best and that was to thrust the problems to other public officials. Cong. Relampagos stressed that the people under Mayor Dan Lim have spoken. They are tired of the ‘anapog’ as temporary solution to the bad roads. The people want permanent solution and for their voice to be heard. “The people have been speaking even outside the survey. Mayor Dan Lim just refused to listen,” Cong. Relampagos said.

Author: Jill Christianae R. Robinson