Kusug Tausug Partylist has filed its certificate of candidacy, naming incumbent Rep. Shernee Tan-Tambut its first nominee for a third term as member of the House of Representatives.
Tan-Tambut, daughter of current Sulu Gov. Abdusakur M. Tan, said she hopes to continue to push for legislative measures taht would help the “poorest of our people a fighting chance to improve their lives.” She clarified that although her party list is most identified with Sulu, Kusug Tausug's broad vision is to give protection to the most marginalized of Philippine society, particularly the Muslims.
Tan-Tambut is among the more prolific authors of bills proposing to elevate the living conditions of the country’s poorest. She has authored 66 bills and resolutions during her first two terms as Kusug Tausug Partylist representative.
These bills include institutionalizing the 4-P's Program, granting monthly honorarium to barangay health workers , and creating a national vision services program for senior citizens, in the 17th Congress.
Among the bills she co-authored in the 18th Congress are the bill increasing the salaries of government personnel, which was approved as RA 11466, the bill providing compensation to qualified victims of the Marawi seige, and the 2 Bayanihan laws to provide economic stimulus to the country during this pandemic.
Tan-Tambut's diverse projects include improvement of community and barangay roads in Sulu, airport and seaport improvements, medical assistance for patients in the BARMM, Zamboanga City and Metro Manila, health facilities enhancement for Sulu and Zamboanga City hospitals, emergency employment, skills training and educational assistance, and food and burial assistance for the destitute.
Among her most recent projects outside Mindanao are providing food packs for flood victims in Marikina and food and health packs for fire victims of Bgy 650 in the City of Manila.
Remembered by her colleagues in the 17th Congress as the only solon who bravely suggested in 2017 that Martial Law then imposed in Mindanao following the Marawi seige, be expanded to the whole Philippines. Tan-Tambut, in the said interview, stated that she is not in favor of strong-man rule.
However, Tan-Tambut stressed that there was a possibility that in those times, the NPA and other lawless elements in Luzon and the Visayas, would exploit the crisis in Marawi, therefore imposing Martial Law throughout the country for a brief period would pre-empt moves from criminal groups.
Besides, she believed and has been proven right, that President Duterte's Martial Law would be a just and compassionate one, unlike the Martial Law of the 1970's. Her Martial Law suggestion had elicited a mix of cheers and jeers from her fellow legislators.