ONE OBJECTION

THE Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) passed an ordinance on Wednesday accepting the donation of a 1.2 hectares land located near the De Venecia Extension Highway from the brother of Mayor Belen Fernandez to be the site of a new government center of Dagupan.

With only one councilor objecting, the ordinance also authorized Mayor Fernandez to execute the deed of conditional donation with the donor, Kerwin Fernandez and his wife Mary Ann S. Fernandez, in behalf of the city.

Councilor Jose Netu Tamayo, author of the measure, explained his ordinance only pertains to the donation of the land for the purpose of building a new government center and not the transfer of the city hall as manifested by Councilor Redford Erfe-Mejia, the lone oppositor.

“What we have approved is the donation of the land. The transfer of city hall is another thing,” Tamayo later told newsmen.

In donating his land, donor Fernandez set conditions for the donation: That the donated land shall be used exclusively for a government center, and that the construction of the center should be made within one year, commencing from the signing of the deed of donation and its acceptance. And if the city fails to comply with the conditions, the donation shall automatically be cancelled “without further action from me.”

Erfe-Mejia hinted malice in the donation.

He said it smacks of graft and corruption since the value of the land (owned by the donor) adjacent to the lot being donated will increase several times more if a new government center will rise at the site, eventually benefiting the donor.

His opinion, however, was not shared by his three colleagues in the minority, Councilors Luis Samson Jr., Nicanor Aquino and Guillermo Vallejos, who voted for the measure.

Tamayo said Erfe-Mejia’s suspicion is without basis since no money is involved in the transaction.

To ensure that the donated land will have an egress and ingress, the ordinance included a condition that the donor provides a road right of way to the property that will allow for the construction of a two-way road.

The back of the donated property is a creek that would allow easier access to the area by residents from the island villages.

The councilor said the donation is in support of the Comprehensive Land Use Plan (CLUP) recently approved by the Housing Land Use Regulatory Board that designated the Lucao-Pantal area as one of the city’s new growth centers.

Thanking donor Fernandez, Tamayo said the planned government center will pave the development of the areas along the Jose de Venecia Sr. Expressway in accordance with CLUP. (Leonardo Micua)

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