SP majority intact, says Coquia
THE majority in the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) have kissed and made up.
So says at least one of the councilors who signed the controversial resolution giving authority to Mayor Benjamin Lim to negotiate for the sale of the MC Adore and a 10-hectare property in Calasiao during a controversial special session last April 20.
Councilor Alvin Coquia, finally speaking up over insinuations that he and other councilors have already vaulted from the majority and joined the minority given their attendance to the special session, said they are staying in the majority which is led by Vice Mayor Belen Fernandez who chairs the SP.
Coquia’s two other colleagues, Councilor Karlos Reyna and Librada Reyna, however, refused to issue any statement on the matter.
“Agam-agam lang yon”, Coquia said when asked if they had already crossed the fence as a result of their support to the resolution authorizing the mayor to negotiate for the sale of MC Adore and the Calasiao lands.
He confirmed that and he and the vice mayor, leader of the majority in the SP, “are now in good terms”.
“Sa awa ng Diyos, medyo okay na kami ni vice mayor. Siguro, nagkaroon lang kami ng misunderstanding, “ Coquia said.
He claimed that the other councilors have also already talked with the vice mayor to iron things outs.
On the part of Fernandez, she confirmed that there was a meeting called by former Mayor Alipio Fernandez Jr., president of the Liberal Party in Dagupan, attended by all councilors in the majority, except one.
Fernandez, however, refused to bare the details of the meeting, including the name of the councilor who was not able to attend the meeting.
NO 1.5M
At the same time, Coquia flatly denied he and the other councilors received as much as P1.5 million for approving the resolution which was hastily done while the vice mayor was in the United States for an official trip.
Coquia said that no sale has been made and therefore there could possibly be no money involved. This was the same assertion of Mayor Lim.
He did admit that he could not blame the public for having suspicions of corruption.
“Hindi natin maaalis ang iniisip ng mga tao. Normal lang yan sa ganyang sitwasyon. But when we think of it, it was just an authority to sell,” he defended.
He added that there are still many legal processes to be observed for the sale, like the formation of an appraisal team and public bidding, quoting the explanation of Mayor Lim.
“Hindi naman nating masasabing masama ito,” Coquia said, echoing the mayor’s view.
However, he could not explain the need for a special session and why they did not wait for the vice mayor since that was a Friday afternoon and there was a scheduled regular session two days later where Fernandez would have been present.
Coquia simply said they have already talked about this and all is well among members of the majority now.
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