Thursday, July 17, 2008 Capitol legislators junk Guihulngan's P80M bank loan By Edmund B. Sestoso
MEMBERS of the Negros Oriental legislative body junked the move of Guihulngan City Government of securing P80 million loan from the state owned Land Bank of the Philippines.
First District Board Member Butching Villegas expressed alarm on how the administration of Guihulngan Mayor Ernesto Reyes is securing the loan despite knowing that it has yet to obtain an approval from the Capitol legislators, even though it got the nod of the town councilors.
Villegas in their recent regular session said that obtaining a loan in such a huge amount may put the locality in danger and will put the people at a disadvantage position.
Under Resolution No. 2008-72, the Committee on Laws and Appropriations chaired by Councilor Simplicio Mijares has rallied his colleagues giving Mayor Reyes the authority to enter into a loan agreement with Land Bank amounting to P80 million allegedly to fund various priority projects initiated by the local government.
During the deliberations of the P80 million loan, Vice Mayor Cesar Macalua was absent and it was Mijares who acted as the presiding officer.
Macalua expressed alarm upon learning the situation.
Villegas also said the Capitol legislature has "return without approval" the resolution from their lower counterparts due to the non compliance of mandatory procedures before going into such transactions.
He said the Provincial Board exercises authority to review and ratify the agreement in order to avoid "abuses" in the use of taxpayer's money.
It was later learned that the disapproval was due to the non presentation to the Provincial Board of Guihulngan's 2008 annual budget and two mandatory documents, the Annual Investment Plan and the Comprehensive Development Plan.
The Reyes administration has allegedly consummated part of the P80 million loan prior to the action made by the Provincial Board when it purchased multi-million worth of heavy equipment that include a pay loader, a grader, dump trucks, and a tourist bus.
A lawyer commented that the acts done prior to the consent given by the approving authority is actually a commission of technical malversation, adding that excess of P50 million is classified as plunder.
Vice Mayor Macalua said he is trying his best as head of the Guihulngan legislative council to "rectify or correct" what errors or illegal acts that had been encountered in the enactment of the ordinance.
But a member of the town council remarked that it will be hard to correct the errors as the act has already been consummated.
