From GMA to PNoy’s label in DPWH’s grass-cutting workers project, why not?, says DavNor ADE

SEPT. 9-15, 2010

You still see them employed by the public works department cutting grasses along national highways, but they are only up to the coming December 31.

However, Davao del Norte public works assistant district engineer Liberato Tan is batting that the road maintenance project employing thousands of grass-cutting unemployed introduced by former President Arroyo should be sustained by President Benigno Aquino III.

He said that it would only take President Aquino to re-name the project that would promote his name this time around like what Arroyo did during her time.

“Project OYSTER is really beneficial as it has given livelihood to thousands of unemployed,” Tan said.

OYSTER stands for Out-of-School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery. In its launching in 2009, it was billed as Arroyo’s P1.77-billion emergency employment program targeting to maintain some 30,000 kms of national roads nationwide.

The DPWH earlier reported that the project hired 59,968 workers from Luzon, 14,120 in Visayas and 19,120 workers in Mindanao.

But it was used by ex-President Arroyo to promote herself by supplying the grass-cutting workers with blue t-shirts emblazoned with GMA name bold enough to allow motorists and passengers in hihways to capture and read it in passing seconds.

At present,  the over 93,000 Oyster laborers throughout the country are still employed at present but only until December 31, 2010 after Malacanang extended the project last October 31.

“The Oyster workers were supposedly had to stop working on that day but the workers’ families were so happy to know then that President Noynoy extended the project at least until the Christmastime,” Tan said.

The Davao del Norte engineering district has 58 Oyster workers while there are some 500 Oyster workers throughout Region XI.

Each of its Oyster worker, on a job-order status of employment, earns a wage of P231 per day of government working days.

The wage falls short to the region’s minimum daily wage of P279 to generate more employment.

The Oyster workers are tasked to perform road maintenance activities such as grass-cutting, clearing/cleaning of canals, patching potholes, vegetation control and beautification, street sweeping. and other tentative road maintenance works. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

Their wildest dream

sept. 9-15, 2010

COMMENTARY

There’s this report that Mati Mayor Michelle Rabat will be trying a new route of bidding to become a city via -again- the Congress, through a capital town bill. The Supreme Court has already ruled in finality after its second reversal stemming from the motion of reconsideration of the 16 cities that they could not do more except to comply with the criteria set forth by the amended local government code. The capital town bill dreamed of by Mayor Rabat is still via congressional fiat and for sure the league of cities would protest and lobby again for the bill to go to the wastebasket of Congress. When will they ever learn?

Although Mayor Rabat has already surrendered in her bid to insist that Mati is a city by virtue of a republic act because she does not expect anymore that the Highest Court of the land would again reverse for three times in a row. But she is still dreaming that somehow Mati would be exempted and find vindication since Davao Oriental has no city at all.

We know that at present there are still few provinces that have no city to speak of like Compostela Valley. But the capital town Nabunturan still, also, glaringly lacks the income and population requirements, and likewise, too for the other town city dreamer- Sto. Tomas of Davao del Norte- which is riding on the same boat with Nabunturan.

It’s time now really for the town city dreamers to just rest, relax and wait for their population to boom and breach the 150,000-people requirement. For both Nabunturan and Sto. Tomas, simple statistical computations on population would say they have to wait for at least 15 years more to become cities.

But why the excitement and thirst to become a city? Primarily, it is on the lust of sharing a bigger slice of the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) being cornered by the league of cities, which want to retain their present number so that their respective IRA budget slices will not become smaller once a new city joins them.

But can the town city dreamers reinvent themselves and see what’s happening to the towns in Luzon provinces which remain towns but are experiencing rapid urbanization that they themselves host many trappings of modernization like having many banks, Jollibees, McDos etc. Those actually have them functioning already like cities even as they are in truth and in law just plain municipalities.

It seems that the psychic association of being called as cities has always ejaculated the colonial concept of the cities which might have deceived city-dreaming Filipino politicians. Now look at the many towns in China that modernized so much without becoming cities.  

With the Supreme Court ruling, it’s now time for the 16 ex-cities and other town city dreamers to wake up from their wildest dream.   – Cha Monforte

The travelling VMs in DavNor

sept. 9-15, 2010

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

 

                        The new administration thrust for the second term of Davao del Norte Governor Rodolfo del Rosario is laudable since from it springs his good austerity measures on travels of officials and employees in the Capitol. Provincial budget officer Norma Lumain said it so that in the recent years the executive department of the provincial government averaged to spend about P5 million annually for travels. That’s excluding the travel expenditures in the legislative department. That amount is so big enough, and a thousand of small purok Day Care buildings could already be constructed with that amount. Provincial general services officer Sammy Sanchez also bared that the many meals and snacks provision for the official activities initiated by any office in the Capitol would also be be cut that only ONE snacks or ONE meal would be allocated for it. Besides, travels would now be strictly scrutinized that only those so important in the exigency of public service would be allowed. What’s good is that the travel budgets of all departments are now all pooled at the Office of the Governor. And that means, even the travels of the observed all-budget influential provincial administrator Rufo Peligro would have to be scrutinized also. Maybe yes, maybe not, since as a PA he has all the administrative leeways we know so much of, huhu. Anyway, he’s a good PA- as they say.

Boardmember Alan Dujali was absent last Monday and we still have to learn the reason of his absence on the session he was expected to deliver his second privilege speech in response to Boardmember Janet Gavina who came to the defense of his son PCL provincial president and ex-officio Boardmember Janrey Gavina. Some of his friends have been pressuring him to back off from proceeding so. We also heard about a lot of Liberal Party councilors pressuring him not to. Their feathers have been ruffled by the scenario of Dujali’s singing about the  vote-buying charges relating the concluded PCL election. Yes, BM Janrey denied there was no votebuying and to BM Janet,  Dujali is just sour-graping in behalf of defeated reelectionist Larry Caminero, a Kapalong full-pledged councilor now. BM Alan has all the right to choose his option. But one thing is still sure now: the public needs clarifications on the allegation. His “documentation” must be revealed to gauge whether there is “bastardization” of the PCL where he came from. Any of  his two options – to make or not to make a privilege speech- could be fatal. Silence would mean, as we say earlier, a cloud of suspicion hovering indefinely to all the 116 councilors in the province.

BLOGS AND BITS: PNoy has issued good memos that would terminate several non-CESO regional directors in Davao Region by October 31. DPWH engineering district offices are not exempted. We learned that the District Engineers (DEs) in Davao del Norte and Comval are non-CESOs also- only that they are good civil engineers. So we expect them who have long been occupying their perks-laden offices to move out anytime this year. Maybe they would be detailed to other functions, or reassigned to other places, if they cling to their positions. PNoy is right since we know that when personages stay so long and constant in their posts, the implication is they have already made a lot of friends from the circles of project contractors and congressmen. But for the latter, it would just be the same, whether there’s an overstaying DE or a new DE.

With PNoy’s memos, we learned that some DEs are now applying to the CESO (Career Executive Service Officers) Board for them to take the hardest CESO exams. But time is already running out for them. Non-CESO DEs are reportedly now panicky. Meantime, we’ll wait for October 31.

Maybe, the DPWH’s Project OYSTER (Out-of-School Youth Serving Towards Economic Recovery) should be retained. PNoy can change the T-shirt slogan and color of Oyster laborers- from GMA to PNoy, from blue to yellow. But better for PNoy, he can change it to Project PNoy for President Noy Out-of-school Youths cutting grasses everywhere along our highways. We still have yet to know whether there’s payroll padding in Project Oyster of GMA that the DPWH has long been known to be notorious of since the Marcos time, being one of the most corrupt agencies of government.

Good that PSALM- that body that succeeded the Napocor and which has been billing Daneco for the power supply from the base load of Agus complex, is included among those losing government-controlled corporations that are subject to be abolished by PNoy. Also included are the NFA and LWUA. These agencies  have been losing in operations while their executives have been getting fat salaries, allowances and bonuses. We still have to know also how much the provincial NFA bosses in Davao del Norte and Comval are taking home. As to PSALM  (Power Sector Assets and Liabilities Management Corporation), can the Daneco power consumers know first where have all the Napocor assets gone where Daneco has an equity before its abolition? There’s fear that Daneco’s claims to Napocor assets would sink down to Lake Lanao if PSALM is abolished without its executives first being accounted for.

During the recent officers’ oathtaking of the league of vice mayors in Davao del Norte, Tagum City Vice Mayor Allan Rellon pushed a conference between the vice mayors and the accountants and auditors in the province to clarify the what’s the registration fee/participation cost to be claimed by vice mayors attending convention, seminars etc – is it not more than P1,200 per person per day or the actual cost like more than P1,200 per day based on the official receipt of the sponsoring organization, either private, nongovernment or government organization/agency? Rellon said that in the past he was limited by the city accountant by a maximum P1,200, but later he already enjoyed more than P1,200 based on official receipts. Talaingod Vice Mayor Francisco Gepulla Jr complained that he is limited only up to P1,200, while Carmen Vice Mayor Alberto Sarin said he has no problem liquidating his travels based on actual expenses. Obviously, the VMs want more- the more than P1,200 per day to have dignified OB, when Rellon said “basig nakalimot sila nga vice mayor ta” referring to the strict accountants. Seems it was an official brag to the DBM-conscious accountants.

(e-mail: chamonforte@yahoo.com)

The Big If

spet. 9-15, 2010

Good Week ‘Syano

The Davao del Norte vice mayors are first confused and complaining over whether they would enjoy the not more than P1,200 per day or the actual expenses for the registration fee or the cost of participation whenever they would officially travel for a conference, seminar, symposium or whatever. The issue that confuses them is the DBM circular that prohibits them from paying registration fee not more than P1,200 while they have been attending gatherings whose registration fee is more than P1,200.

Is the amount allowed for the one-time registration only, or is the maximum  P1,200 budget computed per day of attendance? Other vice mayors are not complaining since their accountants and auditors are allowing them to pay more than P1,200 for registration fee based on the official receipts. There’s a Big If though in the travels of vice mayors relating to claims for registration fee that exceeded the P1,200 limit. If their mayors would sign OK, then they enjoy the perks of travelling. So VMs have have to work the hardest so that they will become mayors someday-Al Rosero

PT-Tourism in Asuncion pushed

sept 9-15, 2010

A known physical therapist in Asuncion, Davao del Norte is pushing a different kind of tourism come-on in his town and it would be what he called as PT-Tourism for Physical Therapy Tourism.

A pastor, who has been miraculously treating ill people from all walks of life through his alternative cum western PT told the Valley & City Chronicle on the condition of anonimity said that PT-tourism can potentially put Asuncion in the world map as a centre of alternative PT healing and wellness.

The pastor has already cured thousands of patients including cancer-stricken and paralytics. He said that the town can well accomodate tourists seeking alternative treatment and wellness and host good multiplier effect to its economy.  (Rural Urban News)

Cee O wants to help Mati

Sept. 9-15, 2010

Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy said that he wanted to help Mati and volunteer to share the best experiences of Tagum City government in increasing income, the requirement where Mati is knocked out from becoming a city.

Mati is one of the 16 cities that were finally declared by the Supreme Court in its recent decision to go back as municipalities.

“Dili ta babag sa kalambuon sa Mati ug daghan tang mapaambit sa ila,” said the mayor in an interview with the Valley & City Chronicle.

He said that with the Supreme Court’s final decision Tagum City would no longer have a P32-million cut of a budget from its Internal Revenue Allotment.

But he said he sympathized with the good quest of Mati local government under the administration of Mayor Michelle Rabat saying that they only have to comply with what the local government code requires before a municipality becomes a city.

The Supreme Court recently ruled with finality that cityhood could not be made via congressional act but via the amended local government code (LGC), which requires P100-million income of the local government, 100 square kilometer of land area and 150,000 population for a town to become a city. Mati failed to meet the income requirement.

In the High Court’s final decision, it ruled that the Constitution is clear that the creation of local government units (LGUs) must follow the criteria established in the LGC and not in any other law. Republic Act No. 9009 increased the income requirement for cityhood from P20 million to P100 million in sec. 450 of the Local Government Code (LGC).

Earlier, Rabat said that the criteria of P100 million “is definitely difficult to achieve” and that Mati’s “local industry is not enough to push us for that income requirement.” 

Within the series of three terms of Uy, including his current third term, the city government is now close to becoming billionaire in terms of income earned from local and national sources, said City Treasurer Edgar De Guzman in previous interview.

“We’re close to becoming a billionaire in the next two to three years from now,” he said.

He said that the city government “is so liquid” in income as in 2008 it already earned more than P400 million in local taxes and fees, and more than P400 million in Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) share from the national government.

He added that the city government under Uy’ s administration has pushed in the recent years increases of its local income more than the rates of increases of IRA resulting to the overall increases of the total income.

“We are just innovative to generate more income that is flowed back for the development of the city such as the many visible infrastructures that marked the administration of Mayor Uy,” De Guzman said.

He added that Uy administration has managed to introduce “new local taxes and fees” that “substantially increased” local sources of city’s income.

“Some local government units in fact have replicated our experience in innovating to raise our local revenues, and show to the people that their taxes are moving,” De Guzman said.

For Tagum City, the real property taxes in gross receipts has maintained through the recent years as a top local revenue earning source with P81 million share in 2009, and contributing next were business tax and income from city’s various economic enterprises. (RUN/cha monforte)

Oyo says Metro Gaisano tells of great investors’ confidence to Tagum City

The P280-million worth of investment poured by the Gaisano company for its newest Metro Gaisano Mall that is being constructed right at the hubpoint along the national highway of Tagum City speaks of the great confidence of investors to the city of Tagum as a good investment haven in this part of the country, said second-termer City Councilor De Carlo “Oyo” Uy.

He said that the pouring in of such great amount to Tagum City by big investors and capitalists was not reached out of quick decision but out of careful business and market studies.

“They (investors) could not have come up with that decision without feasibility studies or computations on return on investments and considerations on the local setting,” he added.

He advanced that certainly new investors to the city “have that trust on the good peace and order of Tagum” as well as “ on the way the city governance is being handled and run” which reinforce the good investment environment in the city.

He said that Metro Gaisano’s rise is a welcome development given the employment that its construction has given to the locals and its future contribution of generating more money in circulation when shoppers from neighboring provinces flock in droves to the yet biggest mall in the city.

Councilor Uy is currently the chairman of the finance committee and the tourism committee. Before he was first elected as city councilor for his first term in 2007 polls, he is already the president and general manager of Metro Shuttle – Davao Reyer Transport Services. He is a graduate of business management at La Salle University in Manila.

Pundits said that Oyo is being groomed to be the next city mayor by his father Mayor Rey Uy, who is on his current last and third term.

Presently, Metro Gaisano, which would have modern cinemas, is being constructed on observed fast pace in 24-man hour works to beat the deadline of launching its first level for soft opening in time with Tagum’s parochial fiesta of patron saint Christ the King on November 21.

Meanwhile, along the Tagum-Mati highway, another big mall is also undergoing construction. Sources said it would be Mall 168 of mainland Chinese capitalists and would sell “seconds”, the cheap China made garments and assorted products similar to those sold in the Chinatown at Uyanguren vicinity in Davao City. (Rural Urban News/Cha Monforte)

BM Dujali absent in Monday’s session

sept 9-15, 2010

Davao del Norte Boardmember Alan Dujali of Panabo City was absent in the last Monday’s regular session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan giving dismay to those awaiting him to deliver the privilege speech he promised two weeks ago that he would bare about the alleged vote-buying that preluded the Aug. 13 election of provincial officers of the Philippine Councilors League chapter in the province.

The reason of Dujali’s absence could not be immediately known, although earlier he had bared that that “some of (his) friends” were putting so much pressure to him not to proceed with his promised speech following the privilege speech of Boardmember Janet Gavina (Panabo City) who came to the defense of her son new PCL president Janrey Gavina two sessions ago.

The elder Gavina made potshots hitting and questioning what Dujali had uttered in his first privilege speech which raised “envelopmental politics” following the defeat of reelectionist ex-PCL president Larry Caminero of Kapalong at the hands of the young Gavina of Panabo City.

Sketchy reports said that the alleged vote-buying of several targeted councilors took place at Room 17 of Lakan’s Place Hotel in Tagum City, although separate sketchy reports said that there were “many bagmen” among the Lakas-Kampi-CMD councilors who allegedly bought many Liberal Party councilors.

Dujali in his speech said that unknown LP councilors who had the majority of numbers in the province’s 116 councilors “betrayed Caminero” and also indirectly Governor Rodolfo del Rosario, the LP provincial chairman.

The Gavinas belonged to the Lakas-Kampi-CMD party, which is chaired in the province by District 2 Congressman Anton Lagdameo. 

The young Gavina denied he engaged in vote-buying of councilor to win and get his post as the new PCL president and ex-officio member to the SP.

A source said however that Dujali cave in to the pressures of his friends.

The two Gavinas were present during last Monday’s session.

During the preliminaries in last Monday’s session, SP secretary Dennis Dean Castillo during the call for privilege hour asked if there was anybody who would avail for a privilege speech.

After a pause, at exactly 2:20, flooleader Daniel Lu replied to Castillo there was none.

Vice Governor Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio Jr, who was already presiding, then informed the body that he just reassumed his post with the arrival of Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario, and particularly thanked senior Boardmember Shirley Belen Aala and the rest in the legislative body for steering well the SP during his absence when he served as the acting governor.

Suaybaguio acted as the governor in view of the travel of the governor to California to visit his son District 1 Congressman Anthony del Rosario, whom recent reports said is already on his way out from his chemotherapy treatment by Standford Cancer Center earlier than the six-month timeframe required for the treatment to his hodgkin lymphoma cancer.(RUN/cha monforte)

Bangkal, newest gold rush area

Sept. 2-8, 2010

The Northern Spy

By Fe Claire TM Honor

Bangkal, newest gold rush area

Nabunturan town of Compostela Valley is a goose that lays the golden egg. It’s the secret golden dragon since its Mainit mountain complex has now many new gold areas even while its old mining areas of Saraban and Inupoan have long been producing gold for over two decades now. The mountain complex has now the newest gold strike at what the miners call as Bangkal.  Words said lately that a group of miners shared 8 kilos of gold from Bangkal, which is in Brgy. Tagnocon. But many smaller gold strikes have been occuring in other gold mountains there, only that miners are secretive but their gold strikes can be smelled anyway immediately or later by other gold hunters when lucky miners start their boastful merry-making. It was Datu Kamini of the Diwalwal fame who started it all, I mean, the too much drinking until one in his corpo was suspected by the Monkayo police to be a holdupper and he squelled their secret. Secrets can’t be forever in Comval gold mines.

 

Good Week ‘Syano

The Capitol fat paper pusher

Who’s this Capitol paper pusher in Davao del Norte legislative department who makes a lot of claims for his boss father. He’s a fat kid and you see him always in a hurry with the papers and vouchers he is bringing so that his father’s travel or per diem claims would sooner be converted to check and finally to cash. The fat kid has no problem encashing the Capitol check as the Kadiwa office offers check encashment service for checks issued to names of persons, not agencies.

Anyway, in Tagum City, government checks would no longer be deposited for days of  clearing in the bank accounts of those agencies transacting with the Capitol, Pag-ibig, GSIS and SSS. as there are check-to-cash changers who abound in the city. Try those infront the Pag-ibig Tagum office, and yes, sir, madam, your check can be encashed right away upon small perusal less only a 1% deduction from  the total worth. That’s pretty no redtape for the fat kid in service to his boss father.- Al Rosero

Trailblazing Blase and the P1.4 B Daneco loan

sept 2-8, 2010

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

At least there are electoral upsets in Davao del Norte in the last automated polls. But they are more exemption than the rule. Independent Panabo councilor Em-Em Blase confided that he got no Tadeco backing at all, but he is profusely thanking the city’s barangay captains and officials and the Iglesia ni Cristo for their support to his candidacy in the last polls. But he could not have bagged the support for the barangay leaders and INC had he not been engaged for so long a time in NGO works. Now  we have one in the province coming from the ranks of the NGO.

I dare to attribute that the reason why now Panabo City Councilor Blase won in the last polls is foremost due to his long NGO involvement and the vast NGO services he extended, identifiable to his leadership. He’s the president of the Project Mariphil Foundation, Inc that in the councilor’s reckoning has already infused a max of P40 million for thousands of poor, needy and disadvantaged in Panabo City within the span of nine years that the foundation has been operating.

Councilor Blase got 25,376 votes and this is no small feat for him thinking that he hails a remote, poor Barangay Tibungol, some 25 kms away from the heart of the city. He landed 6th placer in the councilors’ race populated by 27 candidates.

With his victory, and under the good light of an automated elections, there’s this real implication on the good chance of good, independent politicians to win in an entrenched economic-politico dominance of Tadeco in the politics of the province’s second district. Boardmember Alan Dujali, who also won as independent boardmember (although he was adopted as guest Liberal Party candidate) described his winning in gist and sometime ago, “it’s a collateral damage” done to Tadeco’s political dominance.

But Blase electoral trailblazing obviously came not without his and his foundation’s  hard work and sincerity. The electorate could not just be woed, it would seem, by a few years, say three years of giving services and doleouts like the one I knew of in a Comval town. He was defeated in the last polls even if he was already seen as the people’s santa claus. Voters delivered for him but the votes he obtained were just not enough to beat a mayoral candidate, who had already graduated from his three terms as councilor and three terms as vice mayor. But the losing candidate made good votes, defeated by only a margin of  2,024 votes. In the case of Councilor Blase, he got 9 years- running and giving services to the needy until came the last automated election he easily beat easily old-time and seasoned city politicians and even jumped over two reelectionist incumbents in the Top 10 winners.

Rare it is for a barangay captain who runs independent to win a municipalwide election. His case associated with the influence of an NGO is yet serving as a reason de etre for the civil society to work for more collaboration and partnership with the barangay stakeholders, villages, people’s organizations and communities toward claiming political representation in governance via a popular elections.

BLOGS AND BITS:

Beauteous, young Panabo City Councilor Raquel Geraldo also won in the last polls as independent candidate. She’s 7th placer, coming next to Councilor Blase.

What’s this Capex loan that the Daneco has been talking about?

We learned that part of the P1.435 billion loan that Daneco is applying for approval to the Energy Regulatory Commission to improve and rehabilitate its decaying network and non-network facilities and system is the P49.66-million worth new building for the Daneco Tagum area office. Obviously, the planned new building isn’t yet what is badly needed by the power consumers. Stupid, it’s economics what’s needed by them. I mean, the reduction of Daneco’s power rates. Again and again, Daneco management and board of directors have to give explanations for their high power charging considering the power suppliers and the National Grid Corp. of the Philippines (But somebody in the present BOD doesn’t want anymore to be interviewed by this quarter lately, I donno).

Anyway, I’ve learned from Daneco deputy GM Engr. Felix Hibionada that the P1.435 loan for capital expenditures (Capex) being applied by Daneco will impact a net of 19 centavos per kilowatt hour in the billing of its over 120,000 power consumers since about 29 centavos for Capex have been charged already to the bills since late last year.

He said that the 29 centavos for the Capex was already approved by the ERC and it recently gave signal to Daneco to make formal submission of documents supporting its P1.435-billion loan application.

Capex loan is meant to upgrade and rehabilitate the dilapidating power infrastructures and construct new power facilities such as the costly substations. Without the loan, it would mean Daneco would be absorbing much losses owing to systems losses and power distribution inefficiencies including frequent brownouts. So Daneco, under the management of OIC GM Engr. Nelson Balangan, applied the loan for its operationala projects for the years 2010 to 2012 as part of its Distribution Development Plan.

Understandably,  dilapidation of Daneco’s power system and infrastructure throughout its service area has been a big challenge for current Daneco management and board of directors to address after the power cooperative has operated for over 40 years.

Hibionada said that earlier ERC had recomputed that Daneco’s power rate increase intended for the Capex was just not enough to cover its expenditure so Daneco has to avail of new Capex loan and recover through upward power cost adjustments.

He also told me that the Capex underestimation on the part of Daneco stemmed from the unbundling of power bills in 2004 to effect the true worth of power where the costs were based on year 2000 expenditures.

To recall, electric cooperatives in the country though had started asking the ERC for power rates increases for their respective Capex in 2009.

He said that the first centavos for Daneco’s Capex served to be one of the causes in Daneco’s power rates in the recent months besides the high ancillary services charges billed by NGCP in behalf of the ancillary power suppliers.

“The ancillary services charges are more of a stop-gap measures,” he said referring to the temporary, back-up and reserved power augmentation of privately owned ancillary services power suppliers like the Aboitiz-owned Therma Marine Inc. , which owns the power Barge 118 based in Maco.

The power barge supplies power to Daneco whenever the main load supplied by the the hydropower Agus complex in Lanao is short of power supply like when Mindanao was hit by El Nino last summer resulting to the low water volume of of Lake Lanao.

Hibionada said that Daneco is expecting ERC’s decision on Daneco’s Capex loan application “by December or early next year”.

Thanks to Engr. Hibio for his lots of  good info. At least Daneco power consumers who are complaining nowadays for their high power bills know what’s going on to their power cooperative. Just like power, there’s a need for the info source to open and we’ll relay the info.

(For comments and reactions, e-mail: chamonforte@yahoo.com)

Are you with us or against us?

sept 2-8, 2010

EDITORIAL/COMMENTARY

Boardmember Alan Dujali bared that he is currently “under so much pressure” from the “some of his friends” into not proceeding his privilege speech this most awaited Monday.  After an interval of one week  without a session of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, the boardmember bared that he had already prepared his privilege speech in the last weekend and he wanted to refute that the election of provincial officers of the Philipine Councilors League- Davao del Norte Chapter was not clean at all and that there was vote-buying that preluded it.

The legislator from Panabo City has possible damning documentation on how the vote-buying for the PCL election was carried out. But a possible hitch may occur due to intense pressures from “some of his friends”, and this would be his backing off of his privilege speech in reply to the privilege speech of Boardmember Janet Gavina, who came to the defense of her son new PCL president Janrey Gavina even as the latter had also denied he engaged in vote-buying to get his post. The public needs to know the real score in the allegation, so the highest hope is for Boardmember Dujali to proceed delivering the privilege speech he already had prepared in the last weekend.

With that rather lengthy time of documentation, which took some 5 to 6 days after Boardmember Janet Gavina made her own privilege speech questioning and evidently speculating about and at the same time belittling the sincerity in the oratory of Boardmember Dujali, would have us speculate also that most possibly the latter would be offering testimonial evidences from election participants and witnesses, for why does he say in the first place that “his documented vote buying and how it was done” makes him believe that “ it is the ultimate bastardization of the league” that he came from.

If Boardmember Dujali so backs off this most awaited Monday we wish that the concerned friends of his are not the well-meaning friends we know to be lurking in the Capitol- those winners from the Liberal Party, those who constantly cajole and engage into boot-licking to curry the favors from governor, otherwise we would be coming full circle to that earlier reminder of Dujali’s first privilege speech, “show your true colors now, are you with us or are you against us?”. Had the governor not travelling in California to visit his son Congressman Antonio Rafael del Rosario-we speculate more- he could have make a marching order to Boardmember Dujali to proceed delivering his speech since it is the truth that sets men free besides that the election turnout was also tagged as the LP partymates’ betrayal to the defeated reelectionist Helario Caminero and ultimately betrayal to the very dear governor who personally went to the PCL election and before the casting of votes and his leaving from Lakan Place’s Hotel reminded the councilors in congress to vote out from their free will, based on the ideals of integrity, commitment and excellence and not by money consideration. That would be truth-seeking step he would trailblaze rather than tread the route of just forgetting immediately what has been ill-done during the election and immediately proceeding to buckle down to work after the election as Boardmember Janet Gavina had raced to speculate so much about the governor in her own privilege speech.

Just to say a least, those some friends who wish Boardmember Dujali to back off are making great disservice to the governor, or they are engaging into machinations and subterfuge in his leadership, if not backstabbing him while he is four seas beyond from the Capitol. And to them, this question is daringly asking an answer: ”Are you with the governor or against the governor?”  – Cha Monforte