By Leonardo Micua

 

THE six-month suspension of the vice mayor and nine members of the town council of Bagabag, Nueva Vizcaya for abuse of authority and dereliction of duty due to the unlawful delay in the approval of the town’s annual budget for 2023 and other measures certified by the executive as urgent is a situation that we would have loved to see in Dagupan City since 2023.

Based on the news report, the cases were filed by Bagabag Mayor Benigno Calauad against Vice Mayor Johnny Sevillena and nine members of the Sangguniang Bayan whom he all accused of causing the undue delay in the passage of the 2023 budget and other urgent measures.

Between Mayor Calauad and Mayor Belen Fernandez, our mayor is actually in a better position because of the 12 members of the Sanggunian, five are on her side.  In contrast, Calauad has only one. Still, he put up the legal battle.

Belen, at this point, is not even considering filing a case.

Everybody knows that in Dagupan, not only the approval of the 2023 and 2024 appropriation ordinances were unduly delayed but also other important measures certified by the mayor as urgent. Clearly, a violation of the Local Government Code.

Observers say the majority councilors continue to sabotage the Fernandez administration because they believe she doesn’t have the gall to take them to court.

Mayor Belen has also so far refused to file any case against past city officials and contractors for malfeasance and glaring fund misuse of public funds involving bungled projects to the tune of several millions of pesos.

Is it too late to raise these issues before the Ombudsman considering that it is now less than one year before the 2025 local and national elections?  No!

Dagupan is awash with cash, more than P600 million from savings and surplus from previous and current city administrations, but the seven majority councilors continue to reject supplemental budget proposals simply because they refuse to allow Belen to use these funds.

To be fair, the majority approved one requested supplemental budget, though a measly P42 million, which is just 7% of the earlier requested P557 million supplemental budget No. 1-2024. The approved amount only covered the long overdue Special Recognition Incentive and Gratuity Pay for employees and retirement fees of retired employees.

In her Facebook account, Mayor Belen said she’ll again go to the Sanggunian to appeal for the passage of the two pending supplemental budgets. But methinks she’ll only be wasting her time. The unconscionable aldermen have decided to ignore her.

But according to my source, the situation will change if she gives way to the impossible demands of the majority seven: P25 million for each of them!

Belen is a sure winner in 2025. She would not risk giving then a reason to denounce and condemn her.

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Plagiarism is a criminal offense punishable under the Revised Penal Code. 

 It is a case usually filed against pseudo-journalists whose easiest way to produce a story is to copy verbatim the published works of legitimate practitioners, whether in newspapers, magazines or the net. 

 No Philippine legislator has ever been criminally charged with plagiarism, but former Senate president Tito Sotto III faced an ethics complaint in 2012 over allegedly copied and translated texts from an American blogger and the late President John F. Kennedy.

 The members of the majority in the Dagupan Sangguniang Panlungsod have been accused several times by Councilor and Minority Floor Leader Mike Fernandez of plagiarizing ordinances and resolutions authored by the minority bloc.

 What I cannot understand is the deafening silence of the majority councilors over the accusations. Silence is admission of guilt.

 Mahiya naman sila! 

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