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50-million loan agenda

While President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo had just laid off thousands (more or less) of government employees last December through an Executive Order and at the same time called for austerity in all government spending, here comes the Philippine Consul General of New York, Cecilia Rebong renting a $10,000.00 a month condominium at the Trump Tower on First Avenue in Manhattan, New York. Gracious!!!!!!!! I cannot imagine a Consul from a Third World country living an Imeldific lifestyle in New York. Come onnnnnnnn. This is ridiculous and outrageous. With the current value of peso, it means that the Philippine government is paying more than P540,000.00 a month of rent for the consul general. Why do we have to pay that much money? Are we out of our mind? The Philippine Ambassador to the U.S., Albert del Rosario has a lot of explaining and justification to do (unless otherwise the Consul is not under his jurisdiction). This is so unfair to Ā?Juan de la Cruz at sa mga maralitang Pilipino Ā? and we cannot accept excuses for this. Yesterday I received an e-mail from a friend in Maryland with the following heading Ā? Philippine Independence Forum Day Parade: A day of tyrannyĀ?. In my next column I intend to publish it so the Filipino-American community within the Metro Washington, DC area may know the real issue. In my letter to Hon. Anlie Go Apostol, I have requested some information about the committee chairmanship of our SB members and their respective sponsored ordinance/s or resolution/s, projects being undertaken by her administration, whatĀ?s being done by her office to improve and maintain the 14 million pesos savings left by former Mayor Remy Lauron and her plans to save Carigara Bay. I am awaiting her response and I will surely inform my readers the results thereof. I have heard that Carigara is trying to get a loan of 50 million pesos from Landbank with 14% interest per annum and payable in 7 years. Such loan (I was told) will be used to improve our market and construct a bus terminal. When I called my cousin, Rogelio Rotairo Candaza to clarify the issue, he did not talk about it. I clearly understand because he is with the administration. But my question is, how could we be sure that such money will not go into the pockets of some. I understand that private contractors handle all the projects being undertaken by Mayor Anlie Apostol, unlike that of former Mayor Remy Lauron where all projects were undertaken by his administration itself. Is the awarding of contractors done through bidding? Or are these projects awarded to private contractors who are close/friends of those in office? What are the rules and restrictions? IĀ?m just asking. The danger with contractors is its susceptibility to corruption through what we call Ā?komisyon Ā?. Is it 10% or 20% of the total cost of the project? Is it not that our President, Senators and Congressmen get big savings in their account because of some monetary gifts from contractors? Is there some truth on this? Just wondering. As I remember my Local Government Code, the Mayor needs the concurrence of the SB members in order to legitimately avail of the loan. Now, the future of our childrenĀ?s children depends on the honesty and good thinking and conscience of our Ā?Honorable Members of the SBĀ?. I will surely monitor and watch this project and I hope our SB members will not sell Carigara for money and politics. An independent religious group (not close to the Mayor and the SB members but we must also be careful not to appoint those members of the Knights of Columbus who are corrupt) should stand as an independent Audit committee. IĀ?m trying to pressure my cousin so I could get information and I will hold him responsible as well if this project fails. There should be a public forum and debate so that the people of Carigara may be enlightened about this ambitious endeavor. The interests of the public and taxpayers are at stake here so they deserve to be informed and involved. LetĀ?s not make somebody else pocket get rich. LetĀ?s work for the good of the people of Carigara and look forward to a progressive Carigara in the future. In the 2007 local election, I would expect more bickering and political quarrels among relatives and friends. Will there be a fight between Lauron and Apostol for Mayor? Who among the Apostols will run for Mayor if for any reason the incumbent Mayor will not seek re-election? This could be a very interesting election to watch. Vice-Mayor LauronĀ?s legacy will be challenged by the political fame and wealth of the Apostols. Although I donĀ?t favor one over the other because they both are friends of my father and family but I have promised one thing, if such political match happen in 2007, (I told my father) we must support that which our family owes some gratitude. In a nutshell, those candidates who have helped us in any way. This sounds very pragmatic but pragmatism is the name of the game in the secular world and politics in particular. In the next election, I am hoping that whoever runs for Mayor Ā? he/she must not get candidates for SB whose objective is to make that prestigious office as the political and economic scapegoat of their unemployment and insatiable thirst for title before their names. My point is, if you want to be called and addressed Ā?honorableĀ? make sure you deserve the title. The quality of SB members that Carigara will have in the future will mostly depend on its electorate. We cannot prevent some idiots from running for public office because that is their Constitutional rights. Our Constitution in general and the Local Government Code in particular only provide for basic qualifications, mediocrity and stupidity are not among them. Now I understand why do we have some Ā?trash Ā? at the Sangguniang Bayan. Got yeah? Let me know your thoughts at rene19va@yahoo.com