Thursday, November 06, 2008 Capitol asks for release of Balas funds By Jovi T. De Leon
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Governor Eddie Panlilio and Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu on Wednesday morning aired their appeal for the release of funds for the continued and enhanced monitoring operations of the province's flagship program.
This is because active personnel of the Biyaya A Luluguran at Sisikapan (Balas) are now demoralized because of the decline in quarry collections.
On Wednesday morning, Dabu said Balas field personnel have expressed that the lack of funds has curtailed much of their monitoring operations, compounded by several other factors like the rainy season and overloading.
"Our Balas people are beginning to ask 'we are delivering huge revenues to the province's coffers, but why is it that we have no funds? We can't even buy raincoats and boots for our work'," Dabu said.
"If this is really the Capitol's flagship program, why can't the Provincial Board approve the Balas funds? We can't we work together to avert the plunge in quarry collections? We hope they will also look into this aspect," she added.
Dabu said they are operating on nothing; a zero budget has restricted their attempts to check alleged quarry anomalies and enhance monitoring operations to push collections back to benchmark levels.
Last Tuesday, the License and Fees Division of the Provincial Treasurer's Office (PTO) here released its November 3 Quarry situationer where the four-month collection for July to October 2007 was posted at P85, 590, 000, but in the same period this year, quarry collection was only P54, 555, 000 or P31-million short off its benchmark.
A staggering average of P8 million in collection shortage is posted each month, and, as an official of the PTO said, "would continue to plunge as the year comes to a close unless immediate and proper measures are taken to curb factors causing the decline."
In the last four months of this year (July to October), revenues from quarry operations were posted at P13.49 million, P12.88 million, P14.49 million and P13.905 million respectively.
Last month, Vice-Governor Yeng Guiao and the Provincial Board (PB) expressed alarm over the continued decline in quarry collections, saying "must be more to it than the rainy season, the SCTEx (Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway) and overloading of trucks."
Both the PB and the Executive Department are conducting probes on alleged anomalies in quarry collections, which may be affecting the plunge.
Recently, Dabu ordered the dismissal of two quarry checkers for letting several trucks pass through a Mexico checkpoint without undergoing the necessary inspection procedures.
But Dabu said Panlilio are also dismayed at the PB's "non-acceptance" of other factors that contribute to the shortage of quarry collections like the prolonged rainy season, overloading, the Bamban-Mabalact dispute, the low fees collected from Tarlac quarry sites and the effect of the recently completed SCTex where only minor works are done now.
Dabu said the governor is fully aware of the programs true state, and that these factors indeed contributed to the decline and continue to affect quarry collections this year.
She also said Panlilio was saddened by the incident at the PB's session where active members of Balas were berated by Board Member Chris Garbo for giving "lame excuses" when in fact their impact on this year's collection drive could not be overlooked.
Cited as examples were the Mexico and Lubao quarry sites, which opened on Wednesday because they were underwater for some time. "That is why, these municipalities did not receive any share last month because quarrying there was nil."
As with overloading, officials from the Land Transportation Office and Department of Public Works and Highways here have appraised Panlilio of overloading of trucks in the province, confirming in a meeting on Wednesday bat the Capitol that 98 percent of haulers and tuckers here indeed overload their trucks.
Dabu said overloading now has gone to the point of overloading trucks and their trailers, which she said was equivalent to three to four dump trucks or a loss of around P1,200 per trailer.
She added that at the SCTex, the new requirement is for clay, not sand anymore. "Clay," she said, "is outsourced by its contractors from outside of the province."
Former Balas leader Eduardo de Leon agreed to the Capitol's views on the effect of the SCTex on collections, saying "in fairness to them. The SCTEx contributed greatly to quarry collections last year but the losses shouldn't be as big as millions."
As for the unreleased Balas funds, they remain in a quandary pending the justification that the PB needs from the governor's office. She had submitted and fully complied with the requirements for its release.
"We're already raising money for the continued operation of Balas. We just can't stop operations now least we may be charged by haulers and other parties with economic sabotage." She said many haulers and contractors from Metro Manila and Southern Luzon, where an estimated 90 percent of their requirements come from the province, have asked them not to shut down local quarrying here.
