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Marinduque First Saturday Movers in a meeting. Some prominent Marinduque names associated with it are Gen. Recaredo A.Sarmiento II, Gen. George Alino, former Gov. Aristeo Lecaroz, Atty. Milton Mendoza, Engr. Bernardo Jambalos III, Capt. Emmanuel Regio, Atty. Benjo Buenviaje, Romeo Hermoso, former Mayor Pedrito Nepomuceno, Victor Rodriguez, Anastacio Revilla, Jr. and Ronald Tanco. |
In its new resolution (No.
2012-12) dated October 20, 2012, Marinduque Movers conveyed to the Provincial
Government that “the flip-flopping SP Resolutions only shows how the proponent
of the loan has no clear idea on the exact amount they need and it follows that
they do not have, again, a clear idea on what projects are to be undertaken”.
The group also noted that “the repair of airport runway is a national government
concern and repairs should be undertaken by the Department of Transportation
and Communications (DOTC) and not by the Local Government.”
The Marinduque Movers also stressed this time that from the reading of the relevant SP resolutions pertaining to the loan, there is no clear amount in the mind of the proponent as the proposal started with the amount of Php 300M, reduced to Php 250M, eventually settling to Php 150M allegedly for the repair of the Marinduque Airport Runway (Php 100M) and for the repair of provincial roads (Php 50M). Opposition to the loan has likewise been expressed through a resolution by the Sangguniang Bayan of Gasan as well as critical discussions in the social media.
It will be recalled
that the DOTC had already confirmed in a recent letter to Congressman Velasco
dated September 12, 2012, that both DOTC and the Civil Aviation Authority of
the Philippines (CAAP) have allocated funds for the development of the
Marinduque Airport amounting to Php 80M. It also confirmed that the continued
development of the Marinduque Airport has been endorsed to CAAP.
It will also be
recalled that the repeated argument used by Governor Carmencita Reyes to
justify the loan as announced by her over local radio that ZestAir, the only airline
company servicing Marinduque at present, will cease local operation starting
October 27 due to the airport runway situation has been belied by the continued servicing of the airport by the said airline. Congressman Velasco has also
confirmed that another airline is set to service the airport within the year.
Noting that requisites
to determine the viability of the loan proposal have not been submitted by
proponent for review, Marinduque Movers stated that this is “a clear indication
that the loan proposal has no concrete and justifiable purpose” and makes the
move questionable “aside from it being untimely and a suspect for deceit”.
As if to underline its
suspicion of “deceit”, Marinduque Movers also noted that a member of the
provincial board delivered a privilege speech vehemently opposing the loan
proposal citing various reasons “including the intentional infringement of
established Sangguniang Panlalawigan rules”, complaining further that it was
without the knowledge of the minority group, “…it was not discussed nor
presented formally as the proponent has not submitted any financial feasibility
study and program of works for the proposed projects, and, most notably without
the endorsement of the Treasurer, Accountant, PPDO, and most importantly the
Provincial Development Council and its approval was allegedly railroaded.”
In August, a citizens’initiative spearheaded by Marinduque Movers and signed by more than two
thousand registered voters of Marinduque petitioning to repeal the SP loan resolutions
was formally presented to the provincial authorities. The provincial government
has apparently just chosen to ignore the said move from its constituency.
