NEWS: Tagum City govt to borrow anew P400 M from DBP to finish new City Hall

dec 16

The Tagum City government will be securing a new P400 million loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines to fund the completion its new City Hall building, which needs another P250 million, and for the other priority projects of Mayor Rey Uy.

On Monday the City Council approved Resolution No. 573 authorizing Uy to negotiate with the DBP for a P400-million loan payable for 10 years.

The half of the amount or P250 million would be used for the acquisition of equipment and land and for the construction of city’s food terminal complex, said Vice Mayor Allan Rellon.

The city government has already spent P200 million, still secured on DBP borrowing, for the new City Hall building, which is located at the eleven-hectare lot in barangay Apokon donated by the Ayala family.

It is being built in-house using the City Engineer’s Office and city’s own manpower and equipment including its batching plant under the guidance of a project management office and project consultant.

While the fresh loan to be sought is on top of previous loans, the City Budget Office clarified that the P400-million loan amortization is still way below the city’s loan amortization cap of P42 million as computed by the Department of Finance.

City Engineer Gilbert Mambulao has reported that the building with the initial P200 million is now “60 percent complete” standing in skeleton with columns, beams, slabs and roofing parts.

He said that they have the original target of completing the building and “fully furnished” by September 10, 2009 before the 2010 elections.

The DBP has offered to put the interest rate of the planned P400 borrowing on floating interest rate and not a fixed one noting on the prevailing economic uncertainty due to international financial crunch and the possible vulnerability of local banks in case of economic downtrend.

On the other hand, the P100-million food terminal complex, that is planned to have a food packaging center and which is one of the Regional Development Council’s identified regional projects, is planned to be constructed in progressive type of development, said Sonny Manigo of the City Planning and Development Office.

He said that from what the city government could build private investors could infuse investments if they choose to locate within the food terminal complex. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: tagum city hall, tagum City Engineer Gilbert Mambulao, tagum dbp, tagum city hall, tagum City Engineer Gilbert Mambulao, tagum dbp

NEWS: Tagum dads withhold persona non grata verdict to NDC-Tagum execs

After three snubs

nov 4

Majority of the Tagum City councilors in their session yesterday morning have decided to give one more week for the officials of the controversy-wracked North Davao College-Tagum Foundation, Inc to refute and prove why they should not be declared persona non grata and their licenses and accreditations not revoked after snubbing for three times the city council invitations to appear on their sessions and hearing.

The NDC-Tagum officials led by the school’s dean of the college of nursing Dr. Roberto Palec were already present yesterday in the session hall but they were not called in during the question hour and remained seated until the session adjourned.

Also several complaining nursing graduates and their parents were present as reported in the live coverage of DXDN Radyo Ukay-Tagum City.

They have been up in arms against the NDC school administration for allegedly requiring nursing graduates to take first a P10,000-worth nursing review and P7,000-worth mock board examination at the school before their credentials could be issued to them.

Instead, the committee report of the committee whole was read to apprise the audience on the recommendation of passing seven proposed resolutions that ostensibly sanctions the school that could potentially lead to its closure.

The report narrated the grounds and failure of the school officials to respond to the invitations of the city council in their sessions and committee meetings and hearings.

It said that even the NDC’s reply letter with scarce reasons and signatories reached the City Hall already lapsed of the Oct. 28 deadline imposed by the city council.

Among the recommendations heard were the proposed resolutions declaring the school officials persona non grata in the city, urging the city mayor for the revocation of the school’s affiliation to the city, demanding for the refund of the collected P10,000 fees for nursing review and the P7,000 fees for the mock board examinations, recommending to the Center of Higher Education (Ched) for the non-renewal of the school’s accreditation in its nursing course, and demanding for the release of the school credentials to the complaining nursing graduates.

Councilor Joey Millan reiterated yesterday the committee of the whole’s recommendations.

The committee met last Thursday, Oct 30 at 5:00 P.M. at the vice mayor’s office. Present were

Councilors Millan, Mylene Baura, Vicente Eliot Sr, Joedel Caasi, Nicandro Suaybaguio, Francisco Remitar and ABC President Alfredo Pagdilao. Councilor Allan Zulueta was accordingly on official business at that time. Vice Mayor Allan Rellon signed the report.

Millan informed that with the “controlling facts and consistent with the committee report” the city council has already decided and deemed that the NDC officials “have waived their rights to air their side.”

But he said that the resolutions are not yet approved and bared that their consensus is to give seven days to the respondent officials “to refute and show proof” why the city council should not act on the said resolutions.

“The resolutions would still follow the three-reading principle,” he said even as he stressed on the need for due process on theb prodding of Councilor Rey Salve.

Millan then moved to calendar the resolutions in the unfinished business in the next Monday’s regular session. It was unanimously approved.

It also requested for the presence of Ched representatives and the complaining nursing graduates and parents (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum councilors, tagum, tagum vice mayor allan rellon, tagum councilor joey millan, tagum councilor rey salve, tagum councilor mylene baura, tagum councilor vicente eliot sr, tagum councilor joedel caasi, tagum councilor nicandro suaybaguio, tagum councilor francisco remitar and tagum councilor A, ndc-tagum, tagum nursing graduates controversy, dr. roberto palec, dxdn radyo ukay tagum, tagum, tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum councilors, tagum councilor nicandro suaybaguio, tagum vice mayor allan rellon, tagum councilor joey millan, tagum councilor rey salve, tagum councilor mylene baura, tagum councilor vicente eliot sr, tagum councilor joedel caasi, tagum councilor francisco remitar and tagum councilor A, ndc-tagum, tagum nursing graduates controversy, dr. roberto palec, dxdn radyo ukay tagum

NEWS: Dawn Zulueta will be in Tagum tomorrow

oct 24
TAGUM CITY- Celebrity actress Dawn Zulueta, also the better half of District 2 Congressman Anton Lagdameo, is expected to be here tomorrow to grace an art exhibit on indigenous peoples.

Ms. Alma Uy, wife of City Mayor Rey Uy, bared in an invitation that Dawn will be the guest of honor in the opening ceremony of the 2nd Annual Indigenous Peoples’ Art Exhibit sponsored by the Kalinawa Art Foundation in cooperation with the City Government and the City of Tagum Tourism Council.

The actress is expected to give her inspirational talk at 5:00 P.M. at the Beach Volleydrome in the Rotary Park at Pioneer Avenue.
Cong. Lagdameo is also expected to accompany Dawn.
The exhibit will culminate on October 30 after the public viewing and community sale of artworks. It has for its theme, “Lumadnong Dalit- Ikaduhang Hugna (Part 2)”

Yesterday, exhibit artist participants started with the registration of artworks and the uploading of art data and biographical data of the artists to the web.
Tomorrow, after the ceremonial ribbon cutting to open the gallery of artworks to be led by Dawn, Mayor Uy and city’s first lady Alma Uy, there will be musical perfomances by local chorale groups and bands and a press conference after the dinner.

The weeklong exhibit would put into public viewing artworks themed about the indigenous peoples while there will also be arts for tourism promotions and creativity workshop. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: cong. anton lagdameo, tagum city hall, actress dawn zulueta, cong. anton lagdameo, dawn zulueta

NEWS: Flexi fare ordinance not yet acted upon – Rellon

oct 21

Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon said yesterday that the City Council as a whole has not yet acted upon the proposed executive-initiated ordinance putting as flexible the motorcycle fare based on the current prices of gasoline.

“We are still waiting for it,” he said in an interview at Tahanan ng Punong Lalawigan, the official residence of the governor inside the Capitol complex at Mankilam, Tagum City where guests, mediamen and provincial officials with Press Secretary Jesus Dureza took their lunch after the holding of local National Press Club activities yesterday.

Last October 8 the new measure passed the first reading and was referred to the committees of laws and of public facilities.

On the other hand, as to what is dubbed as urban poor ordinance, he said that its proponent Councilor Nicandro “Nickel” Suaybaguio has still to fully introduce the measure.

Observers earlier said that Suaybaguio’s measure may yet draw another controversy as it plans to suspend for five years the issuance of approval of permits and requirements to urban poor housing.

Last week, the city’s purok ordinance on motion for reconsideration was junked anew by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan for being “legally infirmed”.

Under the proposed ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Imposing the Regulation of Fare Rates of Motorized Tricycles for Hire (MTH) of the City of Tagum” fare rates would vary based on the set schedule.

If gasoline prices per liter (gpl) range P20 to 29.99 it will have P6 for regular fare and P4 for student or senior citizen; P30 to P39.99 gpl- P7 regular fare, P5 student/senior citizen; P40 to 49.99 gpl- P8 regular fare, P6 student/senior citizen; P50 to P59.99 gpl- P9 regular fare, P7 student/senior citizen; P60 to P69.99 gpl- P10 regular fare, P8 student/senior citizen; P70 to P79.99 gpl- P11 regular fare, P9 student/senior citizen; P80 to P89.99 gpl- P12 regular fare, P10 student/senior citizen; P90 to P99.99 gpl- P13 regular fare, P11 student/senior citizen; and P100 and above gpl- P14 regular fare, P12 student/senior citizen.

The fare rates are good for the first three kilometers of the Central District from where the passenger originated, and would have an additional of P1 for every kilometer or every fraction thereof. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, allan rellon, tagum councilors, tagum, councilor suaybaguio, tagum city flexi fare, tagum urban poor, tagum city councilors, vice mayor allan rellon, tagum flexi fare ordinance, tagum tricycle fare

OPINION: Too high a budget for “paperless legislation”

Prices of computer nowadays are dropping. It’s different before, 5 or 10 years ago, when acquiring a computer was considered a rare luxury. Appliance stores in Davao City and Tagum City then made so much a killing for profit by selling slow-speed computers at so expensive price through installments.

Now you can buy a computer set at P5,000. It’s a surplus though but it works for the novice and practicing, kids and youths who are not addicted to top speed RAN online game and its ilk, say it’s only for encoding, web research and small games (not the one the needs 1 gigahertz of processor and 1 gigabytes of memory, that’s so fast at these specs).

With the fast rate of computer innovations and production of new brands and products at much improved performance and more features, as well as the stiff competition of computer makers while chip and parts makers are vast for computer assembly industry, computer imports are ever coming to the country inevitably decreasing computer prices. It’s like the cellphones.

Try online search in Davao City stores, the usual source of supplier in Davao del Norte and Comval local government units for the product and you’ll see good, fast brand new laptops having a capacity of 1 GHz processor and 1 GB of memory, which are so fitted to for the city councilors and vice mayor eyeing to have “paperless legislation” next year priced lower. Say an HP Compaq Presario or Acer, both with 512 RAM, priced at P35,000. That’s fair and modest budget, although one could now buy a fairly fast WIFI (wireless) capable laptop at P25,000 nowadays.

But we’ll stick to P35,000-worth laptop that’s already so good for our city councilors. At this budget multiplied by the number of Tagum City councilors plus the vice mayor and the secretariat or 14, and add P200,000 for the two servers, peripherals and for the licenses of operating systems so the greedy software business alliance cohorts of Bill Gates will not run after the City Hall, and what we have as modest and practical budget for Tagum SP “paperless legislation” is a little over the half of the planned P1.5 million budget as proposed by Councilor Rey Salve. That’s too high a budget Kons.

An P800,000 budget is already so good and cool budget to our estimate.
There’s actually no training seminar in other venues needed there. What is important is that the city IT department first set up the networking cables, and conduct hands-on training, dry run for the city councilors right at SP hall after the goods arrived. And that’s it. Meantime, Councilor Inting Eliot could have all the time learning the sophistication of his laptop at home with an apo at his side. There’s actually no so much fuss and grand in implementing a “paperless legislation”. And the balance of P700,000 that is squeezed out could as well be infused to the La Filipina public cemetery for our beloved deads to be happy. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, allan rellon, tagum, tagum paperless legislation, tagum city councilors, tagum city officials, vice mayor allan rellon, la filipina cemetery

NEWS: Only P9 under flexi fare ordinance for tricycles

At P50 gas price

oct 8

TAGUM CITY- Under the newly proposed flexible fare ordinance, the motorcycle fare at the current gasoline prices above P50 per liter would only be P9 and not the present P10, which was effected just two weeks ago.

City legal officer Roland Tumanda said that under the proposed flexi fare ordinance the P9 fare would be effected if gasoline prices would range P50 to P59 per liter.

He said that the proposed flexi fare ordinance was come up and initiated by Mayor Rey Uy, whom he said has heard and felt of the widespread complaints of the riding public in the city after the delayed implementation of the latest fare increase ordinance.

Atty. Tumanda also said that under the proposed measure it will be already the City Tricycle Franchising and Regulatory Board (CTFRB) which he currently chairs which would adjust the tricycle fare from time to time depending on the current prices of gasoline, and thus tricycle fare adjustment would no longer need the lengthy cycle of  legislative process that reaches up the provincial level including public hearings.

On Monday session of the City Council, the new measure passed the first reading and was referred to the committees of laws and of public facilities.

Vice Mayor Allan Rellon said that today the committees will meet to tackle the executive-initiated measure.

Under the proposed ordinance entitled “An Ordinance Imposing the Regulation of Fare Rates of Motorized Tricycles for Hire (MTH) of the City of Tagum” fare rates would vary based on the set schedule.

If gasoline prices per liter (gpl) range P20 to 29.99 it will have P6 for regular fare and P4 for student or senior citizen; P30 to P39.99 gpl- P7 regular fare, P5 student/senior citizen; P40 to 49.99 gpl- P8 regular fare, P6 student/senior citizen; P50 to P59.99 gpl- P9 regular fare, P7 student/senior citizen; P60 to P69.99 gpl- P10 regular fare, P8 student/senior citizen; P70 to P79.99 gpl- P11 regular fare, P9 student/senior citizen; P80 to P89.99 gpl- P12 regular fare, P10 student/senior citizen; P90 to P99.99 gpl- P13 regular fare, P11 student/senior citizen; and P100 and above gpl- P14 regular fare, P12 student/senior citizen.

The fare rates are good for the first three kilometers of the Central District from where the passenger originated, and would have an additional of P1 for every kilometer or every fraction thereof. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, tagum councilors, tagum, tagum business, Apple Green Policy, tagum sex scandal, tagum city website, davao del norte councilors, tagum tricycle fare, atty roland tumanda, tagum tricycyle fare, tagum city mayor uy

The tricycle fare increase in Tagum City

sept 19

The City Legal Officer Roland Tumanda made the inevitable reason loud and clear to quell murmurs around on the possibillity of holding in abeyance the present P7 motorcycle fare since prices of oil products have been already decreasing over the last two weeks. The increased P10 fare will continue for Tagum City despite the price rollbacks.

Since it’s the Tagum City Federation of Tricycle Transport and Services Cooperative (Tafettrasco) that would be benefited, its act of volunteering to distribute the taripas is a just a natural reaction knowing that tricycle drivers and operators have then been losing when gasoline prices were still about a double of the January price level, as well as due to the unfair competition posed by the colorum habal-habals which have been snatching their passengers in the city’s streets during sunny days.

“Unless the ordinance is amended,” Atty. Tumanda said to belabor a point that the fare could still be decreased to attune with current oil prices.

It’s good that there seems to be a quick price reflex now in the country’s deregulation regime in the oil industry but this positive news about price rollback is so scarce vis-avis the many instances of price increase.

We hope there will also be quick reflex mechanism in our local legislation. It seems to us that on the average it would take us one month and a half to two months before legislation is finally implemented after passing through the local and provincial legislative processes. But we start to count on the date of approval of the ordinance. In particular, the city ordinance on fare increase was unanimously enacted last July 28 and if taripas would be issued today, it takes us a total of one month and 21 days to have it implemented.

However, the delay on this fare increase ordinance seems to occur at the provincial level.

Nevertheless, despite what appear as discreet dilatory processes occurring at the provincial level for this piece of legislation, the city councilors who all voted yes to the ordinance should still be congratulated- for increasing fare at a time of decreasing oil prices. Thanks for the delay.  (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, tagum councilors, tagum, atty. tumanda, councilor joey millan, councilor francisco remitar, mylene baura, councilor alfredo pagmilao, councilor suaybaguio, councilor allan zulueta, mayor rey uy, tagum tricycle fare increase, atty. tumanda tagum

Snatching the goose that lays the golden egg

sept 2

The Dept. of Transportation and Communication-LTO Administrative Order No. AHS-2008-015 which prescribes the new rules for the use and operation of motorcycles on highways is indeed inapplicable, improper and exorbitant of its fines provisions as sounded already by several Tagum City councilors, leading among whom is Councilor Joedel Caasi.

But it was Councilor Allan Zulueta who made the most direct proposition than just did the right thing of LTO bashing over this new anti-poor policy. We better register the city’s objection folks than make a lot of ruckus over this grossly improper and unfair LTO AO.

But so satirical Zulueta was during last Monday’s session. Being a lawyer, he called the attention of LTO Tagum representative Marietta Piccio, that a motorcycle-riding father carrying his son infront of him sitting on the lap of the gasoline tank while his working wife is the back-rider does not make the driving father a violator to the one-backrider provision in the new LTO AO. The son is not a back-rider, he is a front-rider. So the father goes off unflagged in ferrying his son first to the school and then to the working place of the mother. He’s free of the P1,000 fine.

The fish vendors and pandesal criers, on the other hand, for using improvised single motorcycles with wings are automatically subject to apprehension by LTO personnel and their deputies due to the no-cargo policy as only the DTI- approved built-in carrier of luggage in a motorcycle or saddle bag is allowed. Otherwise, they would be fined P1,000.

For not wearing the DTI-prescribed helmet, now we will be fined of P1,500. But until now both the LTO and DTI have not yet posted its advisory with drawing and specification of the prescribed helmet in the way cartographic sketches of big-time criminals and terrorists have been posted and wanted. Nor we know whether there’s already a lot of supply of it from among profiteering helmet-selling shops and stores.

These occur while there are already reported instances of apprehension in the city made by LTO personnel and their deputies from Davao City, while only the xerox copies of the AO have tipped off local authorities. Our local government officials might already be gnashing their teeth for LTO’s failure to consult them, even while the LTO and DTI have not synched up yet their policies and moves in enforcing this corruption-prone new LTO AO.

In a City of Habal-Habals, this ravenous LTO AO is snatching the goose that lays the golden egg. In last year, the city government hit a pot of gold amounting to a million from violations alone of city’s helmet ordinance from mostly owners and drivers of colorum hahal-habal single motorcycles that are blessed under the city’s policy of toleration and de facto legalization in the name of the new livelihood of the people.  And good tidings can be seen at the end of this year as the city government from May to July alone this year has already grossed more than P500,000.

Under this AO, fines from helmet violations go to national coffers. To the city’s coffers, no more. If the city government will not register its objections now, then it tolerating a heist yet to be done, and this is LTO’s act of snatching its very own goose that lays the golden egg.(Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: tagum city hall, um tagum scandal, tagum helmet ordinance, tagum fare increase

NEWS: 9:30 PM siren for 10 PM youth curfew mulled in Tagum City

A 9:30 P.M. siren to warn for a proposed 10:00 P.M. curfew for the youths and minors has been proposed at the Tagum City Council in Monday’s session.

In the bid of nipping at the bud the emerging problem of youth gangs in the city, Councilor and ABC president Alfredo Pagdilao proposed for an imposition of 10 P.M. curfew time for the youths and for this a 9:30 P.M. warning siren would be sounded off for the loitering youths and minors to return to their respective homes.

“Beyond 10:00 P.M. dakop na,” Pagdilao said before his colleagues on privilege motion.

But Pagdilao’s proposal immediately met several opposition voices on Monday.

“Unsay iyang gipasabot, di na manan-aw ug kalingawan ang kabataan sa Freedom Park?” (What does he mean, that the youths would no longer watch festivities at the Freedom Park?), said Ryan Subico, a habal-habal driver said.

A source from University of the Mindanao said that Pagdilao’s proposal is “alarmist” besides that it could immediately make “lonely nights” for city.

During yesterday’s session where the existence of youth gangs was tackled, Pagdilao informed his colleagues that his Barangay Magugpo South has been mulling for a 10:00 P.M. curfew time for the minors as they have been apprehensive over reports of youth gangs that are preying on even on minors.

He said that aside from gangs the city has also been facing the problem of drugs engaged by youths.

Pagdilao though did not specify the maximum age among youths who would included in his coming measure.

But Councilor Raymond Joey Millan immediately favored Pagdilao’s proposal as he urged him to pass first a resolution from Pagdilao’s Association of Barangays Councils (ABC) as guide to the city council.

Pagdilao admitted though that youths from his own barangay who are returning late at night have been reasoning out that they come from nightly festivities held at the Freedom Park. (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News)

Filed under: tagum city, tagum city hall, tagum city councilors, tagum councilors, tagum, councilor joey millan, councilor alfredo pagmilao, tagum, tagum city, tagum sex scandal, tagum city council, tagum police

NEWS: Pagsabangan row continues; water contamination feared

aug 5

The controversy on unauthorized conversion of a riceland to banana plantation at Barangay Pagsabangan that threatens to contaminate a World Bank-funded water system continues to be unresolved and is left hanging in yesterday’s session of the Tagum City Council despite the extended hours used up to hear sides of the representatives of concerned government agencies and other parties on the issue.

Councilor Joedel Caasi had only to move for the termination of the discussion tackling the Pagsabangan problem when the session’s question hour portion had already hit the lunchtime, but not without him declaring “hanging pa ta ani” (the issue remains pending) before the City Council even as he earlier called for a “status quo” of prohibiting movements of affected parties while the issue has not yet been resolved.

Caasi spoke shortly after Councilor Reynaldo Salve apparently doubted this time the legal interpretation of Dept. of Agrarian Reform legal counsel present who earlier cleared that there was no violation in the conversion of the 2.2-hectare riceland owned by a certain Mrs. Helen Sorosa-Alfaras to banana plantation under the growership scheme of the giant banana multinational firm Dole- Philippines to a national circular suspending the conversion of the lands to other uses.

DAR-Davao del Norte legal officer Atty. Vincent Marie Rendon opined during the question hour that the Pagsabangan case was mere “crop conversion” from rice to banana production but having the same agricultural use and hence did not violate President Arroyo’s Administrative Order 226-A which suspended for two years the processing and approval of all land use conversion applications of rice lands in view of the rice crisis.

He said that in the case of crop conversion DAR has “no authority to stop landowners from changing their crops” and that there is yet “no law that prohibits them from doing that”. He added that AO 226-A has still no implementing rules and regulations.

But Salve insisted that there was still a need to clarify on the specific phrase “prohibiting any other land use or conversion” in the said circular implying that it might as well cover for the said crop conversion.

Past midway during the question hour for the Pagsabangan issue, landowner Sorosa-Alfaraz before listening councilors slammed the continuing probe being made by the City Council at the earlier castigation of a farmers cooperative Panibanco.

She strongly voiced a predicament that with the probe that dragged the Sorosa landowners they instead had been the object of blame in the feared water contamination of barangay residents.

She said that for 22 years her family has been suffering from lack of water supply for their riceland and that she was only looking for the future of her children who presently bear economic hardship when she and her husband decided to shift their rice production to cavendish banana plantation.

Sorosa dismissed allegations of the farmers’ cooperative that the ongoing construction of canals in their land for the banana plantation had threatened the existing water pipelines of the P12-million waterworks system earlier funded on loan under the World Bank assisted-Agrarian Reform Communities Development project (ARCDP) for the Pagsabangan Agrarian Reform Community (ARC).

A representative of banana growers association also said that they are maintaining a 5-meter distance between the banana canal diggings and the existing National Irrigation Administration (NIA) irrigation canals.

Mrs. Sorosa alleged that even then the water flowing in NIA canals has been so dirty and has toxic chemicals that she said have long threatened the water system in their barangay.

But Sorosa has apparently not yet submitted pertinent requirements to NIA such as the engineering development plan and memorandum agreement with NIA before she started developing a waterway infrastructure for her banana plantation as covered under the Water Code of the Philippines.

But fears lingered on that Sorosa’s canal diggings might hit one of the Pagsabangan water pipelines and contaminate the potable water consumed by the barangay residents with toxic chemicals from the farms and banana plantations that have almost covered the Bantayan area of the barangay.

The Tagum City’s liability on the WB loan for the Pagsabangan waterworks was also tackled with Councilor Robert “Tete” So warning anew over the liability of the city government paying a loan instead of a grant in case the waterworks project failed.

In the end, several councilors explained that the City Council’s probe is necessary considering the gravity of the issue and the many sectors affected by it.

Councilor Caasi called for a win-win solution to resolve the case saying that the rights of banana plantation growers have to be respected also given that they are reportedly shouldering a development cost amounting about P450,000 per hectare.

The City Council though is girding to throw the issue to resolved at the barangay level.  (Cha Monforte/Rural Urban News) http://ruralurbanews.blogspot.com

Filed under: davao del norte, tagum city hall, pagsabangan, tagum news