Wednesday, March 05, 2008 Dad tried thrice to curry favors: ex-Floor Leader By Grace L. Plata
DAVAO City Councilor Bonifacio Militar finally broke his silence after his much-talked-about resignation in mid-February as Floor Leader for reasons that imply corruption within the City Council.
On Tuesday, after his two-week leave, Militar clarified that he did not mean there was collusion among his colleagues in an attempt to violate House rules.
However, he pinpointed Councilor Conrado Baluran as the person who made these attempts.
"There were three cases of attempts as far as I can remember. But since I did not give in, he started to campaign for my replacement as Floor Leader," Militar said.
Militar said the first one was when Baluran asked him to pass an item under suspended rules.
"It was for an exemption from the amusement tax as the funding raised from the activity will be used for the repair and repainting of a church. I told him (Baluran) it could not be possible because we cannot use public funds for a religious activity. We will be subject to an inquiry by the Ombudsman. I told him pwede unta for another purpose such as nutrition and medical project of the church. I also asked him to refer it to the committee on amusement because such matters cannot be passed under suspended rules. Kato rang mga immediate and important and pwede sa suspended rules," Militar said.
The second instance Militar cited was when Baluran allegedly asked him to submit for approval a deed of donation to be signed by the City Mayor without going through the proper committees.
"In cases like that, we have to review the terms and condition of the donation to know whether or not it is really beneficial to the city. We cannot take shortcuts. He reacted vehemently but followed my suggestions nonetheless," Militar said.
According to Militar, Baluran also questioned why the body approved the Robinson's application in Buhangin, yet it did not pass the application for a subdivision in Bago Gallera when the latter's application was submitted first.
"I told him to go to Councilor (Arnolfo) Cabling who is chair of housing. I cannot act on the matter, as the housing committee has no report on the Bago Gallera application yet. We approved the Buhangin application first because there were no problems regarding the matter, while the Bago Gallera project has to be tackled at length as the land in question sits on the city's aquifer, a protected areas," Militar said.
He added: "It was after those incidents that he accused me nga nag pabor-pabor ko because the proposals of other councilors such as that of Councilor Al-ag on the MOA for a Davao Integrated Development Program (DIDP) was approved ahead of his proposals. That is why he campaigned to replace me."
According to Militar, four councilors confirmed to him that Baluran indeed was campaigning against him.
"Councilors Cabling, Apostol, Al-ag and Advincula confirmed to me. They have no reason to lie," Militar said.
Baluran, for his part, admitted to approaching Militar for various reasons, but he denied ever campaigning for Militar's ouster.
Ethics Committee Chair Diosdado Angelo Mahipus said a hearing would be made on March 24 to clear the matter and possibly see a closure to it.
"They both said they would attend. This is needed so we can determine if there were really attempts to violate our rules. We have to know how those approaches were worded. Basi unya ug na misinterpret ang approach," Mahipus said.
