Rep. Javier Miguel ”Javi” Benitez (Neg. Occ., 3rd District) led the turnover of 72 service vehicles purchased by the Victorias City government during his term as mayor, for various departments, barangays and the schools division, to Mayor Abelardo Bantug III at rites held at the city’s public plaza Monday morning, Nov. 3.
The vehicles cost about P100 million, and some of them are powered by electricity, Benitez said.
The Department of Energy requires that 10 percent of a local government vehicles should be electric, so Victorias is now compliant with that requirement, he said.
“At the end of the day these are for better services for the people of Victorias,” he said.
The new service vehicles include 32 for the city departments and offices, composed of eight electric vehicles, six motorcycles, 13 multi-purpose vehicles, one patrol car, one light-duty dump truck, one dump truck, one utility truck, and one canter.
For the barangays, 26 vehicles were turned over, consisting of five canters and 21 L300 vans, while the Schools Division Office of Victorias received 14 L300 vans intended for its rural schools.
Benitez, in his message, reaffirmed his commitment to rural development, assuring the improvement of farm-to-market roads will remain a foremost priority for 2026.
Bantug thanked Benitez for leading the turnover ceremony and for his continued support to the City of Victorias.
He said the project will greatly help strengthen the City’s preparedness and response during emergencies and typhoons.
Benitez said he has filed almost 100 bills but their hearings have been slowed downed by the budget deliberations.
Hearings of his proposed bills are expected to fully resume soon, he said.*