Monday, October 08, 2007 PB set to override guv veto on measure By Marna H. Dagumboy
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- The Pampanga Provincial Board (PB) will override on Monday Governor Eddie Panlilio's veto on Ordinance 176. The governor said the measure "removed the power and authority of the governor."
The PB approved Ordinance 176, which sets the equitable distribution of quarry shares by abolishing the P150 administrative fee being collected by the Provincial Government from the P300 per truckload of sand.
Panlilio vetoed the measure last Wednesday as enjoined by Kapampangan civil society groups.
According to Panlilio, aside from removing his power and authority, he cited that the new quarry scheme was enacted without mandatory public hearing and is contrary to the provisions of the Local Government Code, specifically Section 138 in relation to Section 153, which states that "the right to impose service fees and charges, administrative fee cannot be abolished."
The governor also claimed that the measure violates the principle on the separation of powers of a co-equal branch, the executive and the legislative.
He said it also violates the principle that the "collection of the local taxes, fees, charges, and other impositions shall in no case be let to any private person."
He added that the ordinance earlier pushed by the Pampanga Mayors League (PML) also violates the right to association of quarry operators.
Lawyer Dante David of the Kapampangan Marangal Inc. (KMI) backed Panlilio in his decision to veto the PB ordinance, saying "Ordinance 176 is a resurrection of previous attempts by mayors in the previous administration."
David also said the new scheme pushed by the PML was "illegal" and that abolishing the administrative fee of P150 is inconsistent with the law; transfer of regulatory power over quarry operations is prejudicial to public interest; and that according to them, Ordinance 176 has no legal basis to abolish the administrative fee and rename it as "extraction fee."
Panlilio said he disapproved the ordinance for the "public was ill-served by legislation that is ill-conceived."
