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| The Marinduque Capitol Building, circa 1928. |
"When plunder becomes a way
of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for
themselves, in the course of time, a legal system that authorizes it and a
moral code that glorifies it." - Frédéric Bastiat (1801-1850)
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In May 2012, for the
proposed improvement of the road network
infrastructure development project in the province of Marinduque, the
Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP), authorized Gov. Carmencita O. Reyes to negotiate
a loan agreement with the DBP.
Two months later, in July
2012, the SP amended the said resolution to include the authority to negotiate
not only with DBP but “with any government or private financial institution”
not only for road network infrastructure development projects this time but also, for “other priority socio economic
development programs”.
When word got out about
these seemingly topsy-turvy operations, a group of concerned citizens found the
proposed loan to be “counter-productive, unreasonable, unnecessary, and
certainly out of time.” “The subject resolutions were not referred to the
Provincial Development Council of Marinduque, the statutory body tasked to
approve and endorse the annual investment plan of the province”, as stated in
the petition for repeal of the resolutions, see yesterday's post.
On August 1, 2012,
members of the SP requested for a meeting with certain key officials of the
DOTC in Manila to provide funding assistance for the Marinduque Airport Runway Project, estimated to cost Php
90-million. After the meeting the SP passed Resolution No. 735 dated August 1,
2012 (same date), stating among others that “Whereas,
the Body is likewise happy to know that the DOTC had already plans for the
proposed extension and rehabilitation of the Marinduque Airport Runway...”
Two weeks later - just the other day, in fact, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan decided to further amend the
second Resolution issued last July, this time authorizing the governor to
negotiate a loan agreement not with DBP but solely with Philippine National Bank (PNB), in the amount of Php 150-million. The
Sangguniang Panlalawigan specified this time that Php 100-million out of that
loan is for the completion of the Marinduque
Airport Runway and Php 50-million
for farm-to-market roads.
Curiously, on or about the
same time that this was going on, Governor Reyes went on radio to announce that
she had already negotiated with PNB for
a Php 300-million credit line in favor of the provincial government of
Marinduque, with official notice already
received, she said. Reyes said the loan will be used for farm-to-market roads, airport runway,
construction of a sports complex and education (citing the need to continue her son's - former Cong. Edmund Reyes, Jr.'s scholarship program).
“Maikli na ang panahon
mga anak, hindi natin maisusulong ang proyektong pangkaunlaran na tanging
minimithi ng ating kalalawigan ng sabay-sabay kung tayo ay hindi uutang sa
bangko…”, she
said.
After a political career
that spanned 41 years (from 1971 as Delegada to present), Reyes, based on her own foregoing statement, ("time is already short my children, we cannot push for development projects that are the only desire of our provincemates, all at the same time, if we will not obtain a loan from the bank..."), has really ran
out of time, four decades apparently not being enough to push for Marinduque's development.
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| Marinduque Capitol building, born 1928, haunted by ghosts, and now 84 years old. |
