FOR TOWING SERVICES MESS

THREE senior officials of the city government are now in hot water in connection with the towing services rendered to the city by JLD Motorworks and Towing Service of Sta. Maria, San Jacinto, Pangasinan even as the supposed contract signed by Mayor Benjamin Lim remains missing.

Surprisingly, it was Councilor Teofilo Guadiz III, a staunch ally of Lim, who sought the official explanation of City Administrator Rafael Baraan, City Treasurer Romelita Alcantara and Public Order and Safety Office (POSO) chief Robert Erfe- Mejia on the matter.

He said if the three officials will not give their explanation despite a written notice from the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP), he will take appropriate legal action against them.

“There are too many questions that need to be answered (in connection with the transaction)”, Guadiz said, adding that in the several instances that the officials appeared before the SP, these people “were not answering our questions”. He was referring to the initial hearing set by Councilor Alex de Venecia and the city council sessions.

Guadiz said Baraan is the overseer of the city government in the absence of Mayor Lim while Alcantara holds the purse and knows how much was already collected from towing fees, while Mejia is the implementor of the towing provision of the Revised Traffic Ordinance, series of 2002.

It was Alcantara who told the city council earlier that out of the towing fees being collected by JLD, 20% was going to the city government and 80% was going to the towing company.

JLD suddenly terminated its services to the city last week through a letter addressed to Mayor Benjamin Lim even as its proprietor/owner Jaime de la Peña has yet to answer the invitation of the council for him to appear during the council’s session.

Suspicions are rife that De la Peña could only be a dummy of certain persons close to the city hall who may have cornered a large part of the collections generated from towing fees.

In recommending that the three officials submit an explanation to the city council on the JLD contract if any, Guadiz took the cue from Councilor de Venecia who stated in his committee report that there was a contract signed by the city with JLD but there is nothing that could be produced by the mayor’s office.

Guadiz also recommended to his colleagues that they hire an independent lawyer to assist the SP in drafting a possible complaint against any official liable, insinuating that there was wanton violation of law in the transaction with JLD.

“What we are questioning is that if there was a contract (with JLD), why was it not approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod. If there was no contract, why was JLD allowed by the city mayor or the city government to render towing services in the city?” he asked.

He maintained that either way, people are liable, saying that his recommendation was for the city council — as a quasi-judicial body — to investigate the city administrator, city treasurer and the POSO chief and file appropriate charges against them if it so warrants.

He said the city council initially wants to know what really happened and also to know how much amount was collected and where the money is right now.

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