Ex-Mayor Gavina to run if Silvosa seeks 3rd term

Feb 3-9, 2011

By Cha Monforte

Panabo ex-Mayor Rey Gavina is reportedly bent to run for mayor if second-termer Mayor Jose “Joe” Silvosa Jr will seek his reelection for his third term by 2013 polls.

Sources in Panabo political quarters who often meet infront the city’s Hall of Justice have said that Gavina is bound to challenge Silvosa with is brother-in-law Vice Mayor James Gamao in tandem.

Panabo political pundits said that Gavina and Silvosa had agreed in a “negotiation” before the filing of the certificate of candidacy in the last May 2010 polls that by 2013 it would be Gavina’s turn for a comeback as a city mayor.

Gavina was reportedly bent to run for mayor but was only prevailed upon not to, to give way to Silvosa’s  reelection as directed by the “Tadeco’s political kingpins” obviously referring to ex-Congressman Antonio “Tonyboy” Floirendo Jr and 2nd District Congressman Anton Lagdameo. “Panabo’s politics is determined by Tadeco,” a pundit said.

City pundits, awash with political talks nowadays, said that if the second-termer Gamao would be the vice mayoral tandem of Gavina, Silvosa would likely pick as his vice mayoral tandem other still formidable potentials in the city like Ruperto Cagape Jr, who rivaled and staged a close mayoral fight against Silvosa in the 2007 election. The talks have even reached the Mankilam Capitol.

“Both (Silvosa and Gavina) can respectively form formidable slates making the 2003 election in Panabo exciting one yet awaited to happen or not,” pundits said.

But a Silvosa-Gavina mayoral fight scenario is giving complications to Gamao, who is expected to become next city mayor by 2016 if the Silvosa-Gamao tandem would continue by 2013 polls. Both are second-termer and ran in tandem under the Tadeco-blessed administration party in the the 2007 and 2010 polls.

And if Gamao can sustain his credibility when he becomes the next city mayor starting 2016, his kin first-termer City Councilor and current PCL representative Janrey “Biboy” Gavina awaits also to be the faraway city mayor after Gamao’s terms. “It would be a long way for them,” another pundit said referring to the political future of the Gavina-Gamao clan in Panabo City. “Otherwise, if Gavina fights Silvosa and he would have no much political luck to trounce Silvosa by 2013, other family names like Cagape, Peligro, Gentiles or Dela Pena might emerge and James and Biboy would lose a looming good political future and their good family names would be erased from the political map of Panabo City.”

Public auctions of tax deliquent properties to continue- Cee O

Feb 3-9, 2011

By Cha Monforte

Tagum City Mayor Rey Uy is not waiting for any tax amnesty relief for property owners as he rather wants that tax delinquent properties in the city be put in public auction which he said would be continuing this year following two successful auctions in his recent term.

He said that the two public auctions he had initiated in the last two years resulted to the increases of collections of real property taxes in the city and prompt tax payments from landowners.

The most budget-powerful mayor said that the next public auctions would be set on date recommended by the city’s finance committee.

Meanwhile, in separate interview, city treasurer Edgar de Guzamn said that for this year they are projecting to have three public auctions.

He bared that the city government was able to collect P5 million and P3 million from tax-delinquent real properties in 2009 and 2010 public auctions, respectively.

In the 2010 public auction, there were 12 tax-deliquent real properties that were indeed sold during the public bidding by the city government following the failure of the involved landowners to settle their delinquent real property taxes.

Under the city’s public auction scheme, the properties sold can however be redeemed by the landowners from the buyers by paying the amount of actual sale equivalent amount of bid of the winner-buyer plus 2 percent of the amount per month computed until the date of redemption. The redemption money goes to the buyer.

During the one-year redemption period, the landowners however can still enter to their properties and harvest fruits and products from thereon.

De Guzman said that the city government bid price of tax-delinquent properties is computed considering the total tax delinquency (total unpaid taxes based on assessed value) plus the costs of sale like for the notarization, publication and others.

“If the landowner fails to redeem his property, the city government will then issue the final deed of sale to the buyer, the one who earlier won the bidding being the highest bidder.” he added.

Panabo public CR in terminal hits almost P1 M income in 2010

Feb 3-9, 2011

By Cha Monforte

The operation of the comfort room is proving to be also a lucrative crown jewel market business of local government units as, for one, the Panabo City’s public CR hit almost P1-million income in year 2010.

Panabo City public market supervisor Nemesio “Boy” Rasgo bared that for the whole year the sole terminal CR grossed P832,279 in cash tickets.

So with it, he is initiating now to construct an additional bigger and posh public toilet inside the terminal building to serve better the public and cash in on more from the call of nature of passengers and people in the vicinity.

The cash tickets of city’s public CR proved to have increasing trend in amounts from January’s P63,132 to December’s peak of P91,786.

The terminal fees from public utility vehicles is the traditional topnotcher though among income sources from the public market operations of the city government. In the same year, it grossed a so high P10,094,137 before the CR’s income.

Incomes from other sources are: stall rental- P620,731.80, electric bills- P280,388, water bills- P24,274, certification fees- P29,200, fines and penalties- P60,644.

OPINION: Questions beyond the grandstanding charge

Feb 3-9, 2011

BLOGISTA

By Cha Monforte

We heard that the resident auditor for the Davao del Norte provincial government has yet to receive the documents relating the contract and the bidding where the Christian Investigation Security Agency (CISA) won to secure the Capitol for this year. The Commission on Audit resident auditor Susan Querequincia would still review the contract and bidding papers. We know there are contentious, in fact crucial issues relating this transaction. Big questions remain to be answered and resolved, like:

1. Will the SP first approve the contract or or enact a resolution authorizing the governor to sign and transact with CISA for and in behalf of the provincial government before the BAC-declared bid winner CISA commence its work as the new security agency of the Mankilam Capitol? Or is there still a need for a contract with CISA as CISA guards took control of the security of the Capitol on January 1, 2011 without the benefit of the contract, and with it merely having the Notice of Award, without the Notice to Proceed from the rightful head of agency, which was Vice Governor Victorio “Baby” Suaybaguio Jr, who was the acting governor from Dec. 20, 2010 to January 8, 2011?

2. Is there no longer a need to have a contract and the SP’s prior approval because the budget, security services, is already included in the annual budget which was already approved earlier by the SP?

3. Is the act of provincial administrator Rufo Peligro, provincial general services  officer and BAC chairman Samson Sanchez and provincial legal officer Jennifer Namoc legal when they never had asked the sitting acting governor to sign any document relating to the bidding and CISA contract as they called in the CISA guards to move in on January 1, 2011 to secure the Capitol and while Gov. Rodolfo del Rosario was on official leave and was in the US visiting his son Cong. Anthony del Rosario?

4. Is it legal that there would be no need to have the signature of the acting governor in the Notice of Award sent to the winning bidder, CISA?

5. Under the new government procurement law, there is a need to issue a Notice to Proceed seven days from the approval of the contract. Are Peligro and BAC members culpable when they did not inform the acting governor about the transaction, nor furnished him copies of bidding and award documents and when there was no Notice to Proceed made by the acting governor for the CISA to move in to secure the Capitol?

Given these big, crucial questions that sprang out from the Supreme Court’s Dec. 8, 2008 ruling (G.R. 175527) on Boardmembers Gabriel Quisumbing et al versus Governor Gwendolyn Garcia of Cebu Province which was raised on the floor by Boardmember Alan Dujali on the SP session last January 17, can we now say that Dujai et al were grandstanding as charged lately by Gov. Del Rosario unto them?

Interpreted otherwise, the governor’s words unto the SP were short of saying, stop your questioning about the CISA contract.  But since that the COA has yet to review and have its findings on the transaction with CISA, questions would keep on coming and new facts would unravel. Already, in our interview with CISA Tagum Branch officials, it was said that on Dec. 28, 2010 when CISA Tagum was informed to comply one lacking/ insufficient requirement, the CISA Manila office sent an e-mail “direct to the Capitol”. The  lacking requirement was about a BIR document, and from where we sit, it is presumably a document scanned by a scanner and sent via the e-mail on the same day, Dec. 28, 2010, the same day when the Notice of Award was dated and presumably sent to CISA Tagum. New questions arise from this: Is a scanned document and sent in e-mail a proper document? Why did the concerned Capitol executive officials not wait for the authentic, hard copy of the document sent thru a courier, a CISA man taking the plane for personal delivery or using any of the commercial couriers around?

Who now overstep on their functions? The SP which the governor called to have no congressional powers to forcibly call resource persons, or the concerned executive officials who have neither powers to arrogate themselves as more powerful than the elected officials like the acting governor at that time?

Evidently, the charge of the governor that SP members were grandstanding over the CISA transaction is unfair and uncalled for. It belittles them and smacks the SP’s role as also an instrumentality that counterbalance and temper the authority of the chief executive within the corporate powers of the provincial government.

Without the SP’s approval of annual budget on or before Dec. 31 for each year, the previous year’s annual budget would be reeneacted, and so the sitting governor would be a loser, if not became a lameduck governor for he cannot pursue his new thrusts  and new projects for the new year without a covering SP approval. I recall- that had happened already in Compostela Valley provincial government in years 2005 and 2006 when the majority of the boardmembers blocked the executive budgets of the ex-Gov. Jose “Joecab” Caballero. The former governor, facing a hostile, filibustering opposition SP majority (I dubbed then as the “Comval SP Eight”- it was a long interesting story first punctuated by ex-BM Trino Tirol’s “Alona or Astrodome” pribelibs spit during the 2005-2006 budget wars) had only his impact projects not completed while he scoured only on what the yearly statutory obligations would permit him to do so. But Joecab largely could not initiate new projects and new thrusts including the allocation of big political budgets for the hiring of additional job order personnel who would become electoral campaigners during the political year and campaigns seasons and for the expenditures for the organizing and mobilizations of sectors for political purposes as well as for the populist projects and services like mass feeding program, distribution of Philhealth cards and like. The Comval SP’s obstructionist 2005-2006 precedent showed that indeed sanggunians moving in majority have real powers to challenge their powerful chief executives no matter what their political goal or motivation is.

OPINION: What if COA auditors conspire?

Feb 3-9, 2011

COMMENTARY

Former COA auditor Ms. Haidee Mendoza, who is now in the national limelight for spilling the beans about shenanigans of former chiefs of staff of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, had once uttered in a national television that top officials of the Commission on Audit were involved in the conspiracy with the generals feeding a new twist in the issue on the web of corruption in the AFP.
Ms. Mendoza’s charge about the passivity and inaction of COA officials, her former bosses, to pursue what she found out to be irregularities in several transactions involving the AFP’s retired generals gives implications to the presence of COA auditors in our local government units.
In the provinces of Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, there are few instances that COA auditors found out irregularities and scandalous transactions involving mayors and executive department officials, and when conspiratorial legislation came into the picture, elected officials in the legislative department were dragged to the scandals that had them all answering to Sandiganbayan or the Ombudsman for Mindanao.
In the last three decades since the 80s in our two provinces (that were separated in 1998), we heard about graft and corruption involving mayors and other elected officials made evident to public in their preventive and disciplinary suspensions, often belatedly, as ordered by the Ombudsman or Sandiganbayan, like the suspensions of former mayors and their cohorts in the then municipality of Panabo, and in Nabunturan and Montevista LGUs. To the credit of the unknown COA auditors pursuing these few cases, corrupt officials could not have been uncovered and penalized had they not stood with their findings which became proofs and evidences in the complaints submitted to the Sandiganbayan or the Ombudsman.
Still, we recalled other cases about technicalities and those stemming from administrative reprisals made by mayors against partisan subordinates and their sins of omission but cases like these oftentimes ended up in legal limbo past the term or combined terms of involved elected officials. In this case, their terms  were only interrupted by suits but never discontinued by courts or anti-graft bodies making their cases somehow moot and academic in the end.
But in Davao del Norte and Compostela Valley, fortunately or unfortunately, not one of the erring mayors and their cohorts had languished in jail, without sa crystal clear, good verdict. But this would not mean however that corrupt ones could not be put behind bars while past cases abound in the country about incumbent mayors and their cohorts being adjudged so guilty in graft and corruption cases and so they were put behind bars before they had ended their terms. Oftentimes, though in our localities- and there seems to be a pattern to this- erring elected public officials and their appointed cohorts were put on preventive suspensions, to their personal and family humiliation and risk to their reelection; their leaderships tarnished and marked X by the electorate for the next election.
When prima facie evidence and cause of action are established by the integrity in the audit findings of COA auditors, resulting to the filing of administrative suits, the COA in this case needs to the appreciated for leading the way in the crusade for good, transparent and corruption-free governance.
Maybe the local cases calling for accountabilty thus far were just not sufficient to convict and put responsible elected officials to jail. Not yet, or it is yet to come. Or maybe the culture of corruption of bad and corrupt local officials is just so hideous, thriving on the petty and small sums or whatever, and not on barefaced and plunderous scale. Or maybe the cases filed were just politically motivated, but politics in the first place is confrontation and a combat among politicians in winning the hearts and minds of the electorate. Or maybe a few or some COA auditors were cavorting with corrupt officials. What if COA auditors collaborate and conspire with the corrupt officials in our LGUs? This last is a sum of our fears, as we heard of one or so COA auditors asking for greases from the chief executives whose offices are subjects of their audits. – Cha Monforte

Punong Restaurant in Bingcungan opens

Feb 3-9, 2011

The much awaited opening of Punong Restaurant along the highway in Bingcungan, Tagum City finally came Friday.

Motorists and passersby have long noticed of the construction of the huge restaurant with a wide roof made of cogon grasses, and Mark Madayag, supervisor of Punong Restaurant, said that the construction and preparation took them one and a half years before the newest and refreshing restaurant finally opened last Jan. 28.

“We offer delectable food specialty from the bangus, shrimps, prawns and crabs fresh from the punong (fishpond) we have,” he told local reporters dining in on the very first day the Punong Restaurant started doing business with the public.

The main dining hall of the restaurant is replete with dining tables and chairs made of bamboos and wood with rattan ties and bundles and hanging native decors effectively giving an relaxing ambience of the place which sits like atop the waterways of punongs, a view of rushing cars in the highway in its west and a wide-expanse panoramic view of the punongs and of the farther Masara mountains in its north to east vista.

Punong Restaurant is semi-enclosed by a boardwalk where customers can take a leisurely walk, and sooner it would have boating services for them to go into boating experience and try catching bangus in our punong for the meal they want, said Madayag.

Punong Restaurant has first food specialty tapping the crabs, shrimps and bangus fish from the 50-hectare punongs of Madayags which can make a year-round supply to the restaurant.

The resto’s foods made of crabs, prawns, shrimps and bangus are steamed, grilled, ginataan, sizzling or cooked uniquely, like the nilasing na hipon, which is priced P145, the inihaw na bangus at P130.

Besides, it offers soup and other food to compliment its specialty, tapping pork, chicken meat and beef.

The restaurant has also a smaller dining hall annexed to the kitchen and a coffee shop. It has a parking space which can accommodate 40 vehicles.

Punong Restaurant is owned by MAFERZ, Inc., a company of the 8 brothers and sisters of the fishpond-owning Madayag family hailing from their patriarch Arsenio Madayag and matriach Irenea Fernandez Madayag of Bingcungan. (cha monforte)

RDR eyes malls to locate in Sports Complex area

Jan 27-feb 2, 2011

A portion of the 15-hectare originally reserved for the Davao del Norte Sports Complex at Mankilam will be allocated for commercial development, bared Governor Rodolfo del Rosario.

He told the Kapihan sa Kapitolyo press forum last January that about two-third of the area would be for sports complex and the area along the road going the Capitol complex would possibly have malls “like Gaisano, Robinson’s ro small malls” so that Tagum City could have additional commercial area in that city’s part.

Three years ago the Davao del Norte Sports Complex project was unveiled during a provincial sports summit following the provincial board’s approval of authority of the governor to borrow P500 million from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Half of amount or P250 million was earmarked for the sports complex but until present the project is not yet materialized.The old sports complex in the area was razed by a fire in March 2003.

In the blueprint of the sports complex, facilities that would be constructed included 49-span concrete bleachers, Olympic-size, 8-lane swimming pool, modern oval track with rubberized track materials, synthetic foot soccer field and a 300-car capacity parking space. (v&cc)

CISA denies cuts in Capitol, Daneco security contracts

Jan 27-feb 2, 2011

By Cha Monforte

Branch officers of the Christian Investigation Security Agency (CISA) denied they had bagged security services contracts by bribing or giving in for contract cuts for officials in Davao del Norte  provincial government and Davao del Norte Electric Cooperatives.

In an interview Wednesday, CISA branch manager Efren de la Cruz, a retired policeman, said that they won the contracts of the both agencies in legal way.

CISA bagged first Daneco’s contract involving 60 security guards last November and the contract with provincial government last December 28 with 38 security guards.

Allegations were flouted in the media by unknown sectors that a few Capitol officials unknown to Goverrnor Rodolfo del Rosario had allegedly made money out from the transaction of replacing the in-house security personnel with the private security firm, which was vehemently denied by provincial administrator Rufo “Pong” Peligro as malicious and untrue.

Also, provincial bids and awards committee (BAC) chairman Samson Sanchez earlier said that the transaction duly followed the procedure spelled out in the new government procurement law, Republic Act No. 9184 (Government Procurement Reform Act).

On the other hand, the allegation that the Daneco’s board officials led by Dean Briz that they had a cut of P500 from each of the CISA’s 60 security guards was allegedly hurled by rejected general manager aspirant Allan Laniba, who subsequently denied that he raised the allegation to the local media.

Reports said that because of Laniba’s allegations, Briz along with some board officials would be filing a case against Laniba.

In the same interview,  CISA Tagum branch operations manager Ourie Ligawan and office manager Noel de la Cruz showed off to local reporters their brand new 9 MM handguns to dispel allegation reportedly raised also by Laniba that CISA is not worthy to bag the Daneco contrast due to its defective and malfunctioning firearms.

“Padaganon daw nato tong ang nangestorya ana, ug tan-awon nato kung daut ba gyod ning among armas,” said Ligawan in gist while brandishing a shining 9 MM pistol.

He said that the the CISA security guards were in fact “so happy to have the opportunity of carrying these type of firearms” referring to the 9 MM pistols and automatic shotguns that he said were all licensed and allowed by law for security agencies to issue to their guards.

As to the issue that the CISA’s owner Rolando de la Cruz, who is always in Manila, is a friend of President Benigno Aquino III, Noel de la Cruz, a younger brother of the owner, said, “o,  kaila siya kang P-Noy as a President” and not otherwise. Ligawan said that CISA owner is not a friend nor supporter of P-Noy, asking “kinsa man siya (older De la Cruz) nga kaila ni P-Noy?”

The younger Dela Cruz  said that “CISA is not a fly-by-night security agency” as some quarters tried to belittle it .

He said that CISA has security contracts with Fontana, a big supplier company with chains and branches nationwide, and other businesses and local government units in various provinces of Luzon and places in Metro Manila including individual mall tenants.

“For Fontana alone, we have 135 security guards,” he said.

He said that besides the Tagum branch in Mindanao CISA has also branches in Cagayan de Oro and General Santos cities.

The CISA Tagum branch, he said, besides securing the Capitol and Daneco has also contracts with Prime Fruits in Cuambogan, Tagum City and Red Logo Davao which has operations in the city and Cagayan deo Oro City.

Dela Cruz said that CISA opened its branch in Tagum two years ago and that the CISA owned by his brother has been in operations for two years after the latter formed his own security agency out from the mother unit owned by him and his Manila associates who have long been in security services business.

In the Capitol’s P6.3 million  contract for 2011, if the amount would be grossly divided by 38 security guards, about P13,816 monthly would be shared by each of the security guards.

“For each of the Capitol guards we are giving them a salary of P4,200 per quincina,” office manager De la Cruz said.

At that amount, the monthly salary would reach to P8,400 for each, which if deducted to the computed per capita share of P31,816 would give CISA a gross profit of P5,416 from each guard.

He said that from the gross profit they would have still for pay the obligations for the SSS, Philhealth and insurance coverages of their guards employed and the overhead, operating and administration costs as well.

He then asked where would they get sourcing from the alleged contract cuts for the Capitol officials.

He said that they were given by the Capitol the Certificate of Award on December 28, 2010.

Ligawan said that the Capitol’s BAC found CISA papers to be already complete after the Butuan City-based United Field Sea Watchman and Checkers Agency (UFSWCA) was knocked off for being an unresponsive bidder after failing to submit all the bidding requirements as required by BAC.

He said that CISA was only asked to submit one lacking requirement, which he said the CISA Manila headquarters had complied on Dec. 28, 2010 “sent through the internet”.

The requirement, “about the BIR tax document”, would seem to hve been scanned and e-mailed directly to the still unknown requesting Capitol officials.

“Kung tinuod nang naghatag mi, nah kami na lang unta ang mokuha ana kay pobre man pod mi. Sa pagkatinoud, legal gyod ang among pagdaug sa bidding. Mas maayo mi kay naa pod mi CCTV camera nga apil sa among services sa Capitol ug Daneco,” branch manager De la Cruz said. (cha monforte)

“Kris is fully supporting me now” – Gov. Chiongkee

Jan 27-feb 2, 2011

Compostela Valley Governor Arturo “Chiongkee” Uy said that Boardmember Kristine Mae Caballero has been fully supporting his administration now particularly to his legislative agenda for the further development of the province.

In an interview, the governor also hinted that Boardmember Caballero might as well be included in the administration’s slate by 2013 as unity of leaders in the province has always been his thrust in his administration since his first term.

He said though that it would be up to the lady provincial legislators whether she would join the administration’s slate.

It was Boardmember Caballero who was drafted by his father ex-Gov. Jose “Joecab” Caballero to fight against Gov. Uy in 2007 elections. She lost, with Gov. Uy getting overwhelming votes for his first term while ex-Gov. Caballero in 2007 and 2010 polls lost to now second-termer District 2 Cong. Rommel “Bobong” Amatong. Gov. Uy is now in his second term as governor following his unopposed reelection bid last May 2010 polls.

Boardmember Caballero was serving as a neophyte boardmember when his father Joecab served his last term as governor from 2004 to 2007. Her current term is her second stint as regular boardmember of District 2 in the province.

In the same interview, Gov. Uy also bared that last year he had extended his hands for reconciliation “for three times” with Pantukan Mayor JC Celso “Tok” Sarenas but the latter did not reply to his gestures. He said his offer for reconciliation with the mayor is still continuing these days.

The two had been politically in conflict against each other before and during the last May polls.

Knowing Uy as a negotiations-adept and unifying governor, pundits said now that he has been exerting extra efforts to protect and sustain the large unity of political leaders in the province under the banner of the Uswag Comval political aggrupation given the complicated political scenarios seen ahead especially in the run up towards the 2013 elections as Vice Governor Ramil Gentugaya is now finishing his last term. (cha monforte)

Tagum PNP Chief Geralde bade goodbye

Jan 27-feb 2, 2011

Tagum’s crime incidents drastically decrease during his tour of duty

By Cha Monforte

Tagum City chief of police PSupt. Giusseppe Geralde bade good goodbye thanking for the support of the city officials notably City Mayor Rey Uy in his peace and order drive in his two-year tour of duty during which the crime incidents in the city have drastically dropped.

“I thank for Mayor Uy for his all-out support to the city police. When I assumed office crime incidents averaged about 20 daily , now it’s different with a drastic drop of less than 10 average incidents in a day. Our police has really sustained the peace in Tagum City at their best,” the outgoing chief of police said.

In an interview, he said though that only two grave crime incidents came to occur during his two-year watch and these were the killing of retired Judge Erasto Salcedo and the recent ambush of three soldiers in Barangay Magdum by suspected New People Army (NPA) rebels.

“But the city in general has stable peace and order and our policemen are exerting their best efforts to protect the people and maintain this stability. We maintain our police visibility,” Geralde said.

Mayor Uy, in  an earlier interview with the Valley & City Chronicle, described PSupt. Geralde as a “gentleman, a professional, matinong tao.” He said he wished to have Geralde retained but against this wish I cannot interfere with the PNP’s policy.”

The end of two-year tour of duty of PSupt. Geralde is on Thursday, Jan. 20, and by Monday, Jan. 31 he is expected to be replaced by PSupt. Juel Neil Salcedo, chief of the regional security agency group division based in Davao City.

In the PNP policy, provincial, city and municipal police chiefs are given only two-year tour of duty.

Meanwhile, reports said that also outgoing Davao del Norte provincial director Jose Pante, who would be going out by Feb. 17, would be replaced by either one of the three aspirants from PNP regional offices, police officers Wycoco, Reyes and Cuebillas.