Regal Oliva vows integrity, health reform, and housing solutions

As former Mandaue City Treasurer Atty. Regal Oliva vies for the city's lone congressional seat, she believes her background as a lawyer gives her an edge, along with her clean record and corruption-free tenure in public service.

- Kristin de Dios Staff Member

In her guesting on The Freeman's special election segment "Know Your Candidate", Oliva said she is confident in taking over the seat, emphasizing her legal expertise and the need to elevate Mandaue City's presence on the national stage.

"As a legislator, I can very much deliver to the people of Mandaue on legislative actions and legislative pending requirements," Oliva emphasized, stessing how she believes Mandaue deserves someone better to represent it in Congres.

She also assured that in her 16 years of public service as city treasurer, she has maintained a clean record, with no involvement in graft and corruption.

Aside from serving as city treasurer, Oliva also served as the former president of the Integrated Bar of the Philippines (IBP) Cebu City Chapter, which actively provides legal counsel and assistance to those in need.

Oliva claimed that since filing her certificate of candidacy (COC), her perspective as a public servant has broadened, particularly in the political landscape.

PLANS AND PLATFORMS

If elected, Oliva has outlined her legislative agenda for Mandaue City, and even the entire country for the next three years.

For Mandaue City, Oliva emphasized the need to improve social services, particularly access to healthcare. She said it would be better to institutionalize healthcare access for the people.

"Ang pagbayad sa usa ka yanong tao, pagbayad sa hospital maglisod gyud sila kay muagi pa gyud og politiko," said Oliva.

She explained that by institutionalizing this, individuals would no longer need a "guarantee letter" just to pay their hospital bills. To achieve this, the congressional aspirant said the budget allocation for PhilHealth should be increased.

"Because PhilHealth is supposed to be the state insurance. Ang problema karon wala taga-e og budget si PhilHealth in 2025," said Oliva.