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Sunday, February 08, 2004
Spare Panay Railways from politics, asks management
By Jay Dooma Balnig
THE management of Panay Railways Inc. (PRI) appealed to politicians to refrain from making the revival of the Panay Railways a political issue.
PRI Manager Hannibal Lipardo made the call as he denied issuing any statement regarding the controversy involving the rail paths in Passi City.
According to Lipardo, a retired military official, radio blocktime programs quoted him as the source of the information they are using to put Mayor Jesry Palmares in bad light.
Palmares is seeking the congressional seat in the 4th District.
The issue stemmed from PRI's letter to Palmares inquiring on the status of the railway track under Passi City's jurisdiction.
Based on Lipardo's letter to Palmares dated Jan. 12, the Privatization Management Office sold the PRI steel rails to Fujian Furi Electronics Co. Ltd.
PRI's role is to provide assistance to said firm to make feasible the immediate retrieval of the steel rails.
However, PRI received reports that Palmares allegedly instructed several barangay captains whose villages are located in the railway section to retrieve the PRI steel rails.
The information is reportedly being used by Palmares's opponents against him in an effort to undermine his congressional bid.
Lipardo, however, clarified that he never issued any adverse statement against Palmares regarding the issue.
"In fact, we are very much thankful to Mayor Palmares for instructing the barangay captains to secure all rail tracks in their jurisdiction," Lipardo said.
He added, "All problems between Passi City and PRI regarding the PRI properties were already resolved."
Earlier, a PRI property in Passi City was foreclosed by the local government and later subjected to public auction.
But all our properites were already returned to PRI through the PMO, Lipardo said.
(February 8, 2004 issue)
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