Page 10 - OCA 2015

Outstanding Congressman Award 2015

goveRnMenT seRvice
Abu’s stint in government service started in 1988 when
he became a youth development assistant in the office of then
Batangas governor Vicente mayo.

In 1992, he went back to Bauan, ran as municipal councilor
and won. He finished the first term but did not run again
because his father was dying of liver cancer.

His father asked him to help Hermilando Mandanas
who was then running for Batangas governor. Abu served
as executive assistant for Mandanas, a position that he kept
until 2004 when he was appointed supervising political
affairs officer in the House of Representatives under the
office of Mandanas.

In the may 13 elections, as a candidate for the Nacionalista
Party, Abu won against his more popular rival, movie actor
Christopher de Leon of the Liberal Party, by more than 70,000
votes. Abu also won against Godofredo Berberabe of the United
Nationalist Alliance.

“I held on to the strong belief that the Batangueño does not look at
personalities but at what I could do for the people,” he said.

After completing elementary and high school in public
schools in Bauan, Abu took up general engineering at Batangas
State University in 1984 to 1985 before shifting to political
science at University of Batangas from 1986 to 1989.

Dumalo si Batangas Congressman Raneo Abu sa pagbubukas ng InnoTrans 2014,
ang nangungunang transport technology fair sa buong mundo na ginanap sa Berlin,
Germany kamakailan. Si Congressman Abu ang pangunahing may akda ng Philippine
National Railway franchise extension bill sa Kongreso na magbibigay daan upang
maisakatuparan ng nasabing ahensya ang pagsasaayos ng mga luma at sirang train at
riles nito. Kasama ni Congressman Abu sa pagaaral ng mga maka bagong teknolohiya sa
train operations si PNR General Manager Allan Dilay at mga miyembro ng Transportation
Committee ng Kongreso. Kasama sa panukala ni Congressman Abu ang muling
pagbuhay ng train operation sa Batangas-Manila route para sa higit na pag-taas ng
antas ng Batangas International Port operations. (TMA)
ice PLanT woRkeR
Abu, however, was unable to finish his political science
course because he needed to work and help his parents. His
mother was a housewife while his father was a mechanic who
became blind due to an accident.

After the accident, his father lost his job but was lucky an
ice plant hired him and helped him get an artificial eye.
Courtesy Call of H.E. Truong Trieu Duong, Vietnamese Ambassador
“I was also crushing ice,” said Abu who recalled having to work
at the ice plant every summer so he could support his studies.

He said their family never owned a house until two years
after his father’s death when his sister went to Dubai to work
and helped provide a house for them.

“My only regret which I could not forget is that I was unable to
provide a television set for my father. We used to watch TV in other
Courtesy Call of Mogens Lykketoft - Speaker Denmark Parliament
people’s homes,” he said.

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