Monday, December 22, 2008 Mt. Province officials declare support for Agyao By Jane Cadalig
POLITICAL leaders in Mt. Province stood ground for their support to Kalinga Representative Manuel Agyao, who is currently assuming as the legislative caretaker for the province.
Provincial officials and the Mt. Province League of Municipalities are one in expressing support for Agyao.
In separate declarations, the provincial officials refuted claims of Josephine Dominguez, wife of the late Mt. Province Representative Victor Dominguez and undersecretary for indigenous peoples, that provincial leaders have lost their confidence in Agyao as caretaker of the province.
Dominguez, in her December 15 letter to Agyao, asked the lawmaker to "relinquish his position as caretaker for the Lone District of Mt. Province", as agreed in a meeting.
"We conveyed to you the message of my family, the family of the late Representative Victor Dominguez, together with the message of our political leaders and supporters that we have lost confidence to your position as caretaker for Mt. Province," Dominguez's letter stated.
The letter detailed that Agyao then agreed to relinquish his position and an agreement was set that this be done through a letter to be dated not later than December 12.
"Since the letter has not been produced up to this date, may I appeal to you sir for the commitments we all agreed upon. This is to ensure smooth transition of official business so that public service in Mt. Province will continue without delay," added the letter.
Dominguez's claims were, however, contested by the Provincial Government and the municipal mayors.
Provincial officials, led by Benguet Governor Maximo Dalog, also in a December 15 letter to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, affirmed their support to Agyao, and expressed objection to moves seeking to replace him.
"Agyao's designation as caretaker has stabilized the political turmoil and is doing good in the performance of his functions and his replacement at this point will again usher political turmoil and would disturb the normal situation in our political landscape. (The) elections (are) just around the corner and we will be electing our own congressman in due time," said the official's letter.
Also, the League of Mayors of Mt. Province passed a resolution supporting Agyao's leadership.
The resolution, addressed to House Speaker Prospero Nograles, said Agyao has earned the respect and has established harmonious working relationships in the various sectors of the province.
"Any proposal or move to replace Agyao at this point is retrogressive and contrary to the tenets of good governance considering that the plans and programs for the development of Mt. Province under his stead is in place," the mayors said.
A source, who spoke on condition of anonymity due to the sensitivity of the issue, said the moves to replace Agyao stemmed from the allocation of funds for the implementation of the Sona (State of the Nation Address) projects as committed by Arroyo.
"There is a move to replace Agyao because the protégé contractors did not win in the recent public bid for the implementation of the Sona projects," said the source.
Rehabilitation of road networks in Mt. Province, including the Halsema Highway, the Baguio-Bontoc-Kalinga and the Baguio-Bontoc-Tabuk-Tuguegarao roads was allotted P3,488,866,002 -- the biggest so far to be appropriated for the province.
Arroyo in her 2006 Sona committed the improvement of the road networks in the region, including roads leading to Mt. Province.
The implementation of the Sona projects in Mt. Province has been marred with several controversies, arising from issues of graft and corruption.
In a related development, the president of the Mt. Province State Polytechnic College (MPSPC) asked Arroyo to replace Dominguez as the undersecretary for indigenous peoples.
MPSPC Nieves Dacyon raised the allegation that Mrs. Dominguez is using her appointment "to corner the Sona contracts" up for bid this month.
Earlier, contractor Harry Dominguez asked the constituents of the province to be vigilant on the implementation of the Sona projects, to avert the occurrence of corruption and help the government save more funds.
In the recent bidding, where honest contractors won, he said government was able to save P103 million.
Bishop Carlito Cenzon has vowed to bring the controversies hounding the Halsema Highway to the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines to solicit support in the campaign against possible corruption, which would take place in the implementation of the national thoroughfare.
