Abalos inspires Bulakenyos towards further excellence in leadership

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Former DILG Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos during his visit with City of Malolos leaders and residents on Tuesday. Photo by Anton Catindig

CITY OF MALOLOS—Former Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos inspires Bulacan leaders towards further excellence in leadership to better serve the communities as he swept key areas in the province on Tuesday.  

Abalos met local folks, residents and leaders in Calumpit town led by Mayor Lem Faustino, Vice Mayor Zacarias Candelaria and Mayor Christian Natividad and Vice Mayor Miguel Alberto Tengco and their respective council members and encouraged them to continue their best and utmost services to their respective communities.

In a video presentation, he showed the people of Calumpit and Malolos the key accomplishments as former DILG secretary including during his stint as mayor of Mandaluyong City.   

“The works in the DILG is very vast, I head the National Police Commission, (Napolcom), the Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (PJMP), the provincial and city and municipal governments down to the barangays, the Philippine National Police (PNP), the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP), and so many others. They are not easy and demand full integrity, high level of commitment and dedication,” he said.

The most recent was the controversial arrest of Kingdom of Jesus Christ leader Pastor Apollo Quiboloy inside his church facility in Davao City which took weeks and had given the police a difficult time including the arrest of dismissed Bamban, Tarlac Mayor Alice Guo in Indonesia.

“Their arrest can never be done without the full hard work,” Abalos said.   

He also boasted that the biggest illegal drug cache of the Philippine government in the history of our country was made during his stint as DILG secretary. “To achieve that, I ordered all the generals in the PNP to resign”.

The video presentation showed Bulakenyos photographs of the transformation of Mandaluyong City public cemetery from an inhuman condition to a decent government memorial park. “Even in deaths, there is a strong disparity between the poor and the rich. In Mandaluyong City, we addressed this concern, we provide a morally upright system of burial for our less privileged people,” he said.  

Abalos laments that while Mandaluyong City is just a small city and even denotes a negative connotation being the host area of the Philippine National Mental Hospital and the Bureau of Corrections for Women or the Correctional for Women, it didn’t dampen their spirit to bring their city to its present progress and development.  

Abalos also gave emphasis on the need to change the term of the elected leaders in the government as he said that it is only in the Philippines among the Southeast Asian countries with a three year term for the local leaders compared with four-five years in the neighbouring countries.  This system brings excessive discharge of government funds and cuts short the continuity of leadership of the leaders.

According to the secretary however, the dedication and hard work of the leaders in our country are not always full of joy and happiness as there are bashers and even complaints to be faced in courts. He said his most recent accomplishments as DILG secretary caused him numerous charges in court, but he said he is not cowed by all the complaints as all the actions he had undertaken were legal and parallel with the laws of the land.

“But the bashers and those who accused us of ill doings while we are doing our best to serve our people and our country are just like dogs barking along our path, they should not imperil our goals and destinations. We should focus on reaching our destinations,” Abalos tells the crowd both in Calumpit and Malolos.  

The secretary also hailed Faustino and Natividad for the good leadership they are bringing to their communities as reflected in the developments in both Calumpit and the City of Malolos.

The Secretary also had a brief dialogue with Bulacan Gov. Daniel Fernando at the Official Residence in this city where he was also interviewed by media members in Central Luzon. He assured the governor of his continued support to the province and its concerns particularly in abating flooding when he gets elected in the senate.

Fernando, Natividad and Faustino assured Abalos of the Bulakenyos support.

President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. appointed Abalos as DILG Secretary upon his assumption to office in June 2022. But, Abalos resigned last month when he filed his candidacy as a senatorial candidate in the May 2025 election.  

Abalos, who was also the chairman of the Metro Manila Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA) during the term of former President Rodrigo Duterte also shared a glimpse of his personal life.

The story of his marriage life that started at the age of 21 while he grappled as a law student which caused him an ailment had also inspired the Bulakenyo youth.   

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