PAMPANGA, Philippines- Ahead of the visit of President Rodrigo Duterte in the province, ex-officio Board Member Maila Ting-Que minced no words when she challenged Cagayan Governor Manuel Mamba to prove his “allegations” that the Ting family have connections with drug lords.
“We have never been involved, at kung mapapatunayan mo, at magre-resign ako, magre-resign ang buong pamilya Ting sa kanilang puwesto sa gobyerno,” Ting-Que said in her speech before the more than 700 barangay officials attending the 15th Liga ng mga Barangay-Cagayan Chapter Congress in Clark, Pampanga Tuesday, March 13.
“Kapag hindi mo mapatunayan ang sinasabi mong koneksyon namin sa drug lord, ikaw at ang lahat ng pamilya mo ay mag-resign sa gobyernong kinatatayuan ninyo ngayon,” she told Mamba.
Mamba had earlier reportedly distributed a white paper to his department chiefs, containing allegations linking the Tings to families of alleged illegal drug traders, an accusation the Ting family strongly denied.
Ting-Que accused Mamba of peddling “lies” to destroy their family’s reputation, and even challenged to have a face to face meeting with Duterte to prove his supposed allegations.
Duterte will be visiting the province of Cagayan on Wednesday, March 14, to witness the wrecking of contraband luxury cars in Santa Ana town, and to inspect the Cagayan North International Airport in Lal-lo town.
“Darating po ang Pangulong Duterte sa Cagayan, magharap-harap po tayo. Kung kaya mo isumbong sa kanya lahat ng kasinungalingan mo. Let us go, haharapin po namin kayo sa harap at tayo ay maglabasan doon ng ating sari-sariling opinyon, at ating sariling salita, at papatunayan ko sa inyo na lahat ng lumalabas sa bunganga ninyo ay pawang kasinungalingan lamang,” the board member said.
Ting-Que and Mamba’s word war started when the earlier openly questioned the budget proposals of Mamba at the Sangguniang Panlalawigan. She’s a member of the board opposition, composed of majority of the board members.
Responding to Ting-Que’s challenge, Mamba told Forum it’s for the Ting to disprove it, and denied he was the one alleged their drug ties.
He, however, said he “honestly” believe the allegations were true. Northernforum.net
