ILLEGAL SPECIAL SESSION 

THE vice mayor of Binmaley has threatened to file a case before the Ombudsman against the majority members of the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) if they persist on adopting a resolution involving a P55 million loan being sought by the mayor’s office from the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Vice Mayor Pedro Merrera III, presiding officer of the SB, asserts that the resolution is null and void because it was approved by the majority at past 8:00 p.m., after the council’s special session last Aug. 18.

Merrera, speaking at the KBP forum last Thursday, said Councilor Ellen Alipio, SB majority floor leader, usurped the power of the vice mayor when she presided over the session even if it was already adjourned by him on motion of two members of the body.

The eight members of the majority of the SB claimed that they continued with the session because Merrera and two other members of the body walked out.

Merrera denied that he walked out and pointed to the minutes of the session as well as the video recordings of the proceedings as evidence that he properly adjourned the session.

A videotape on the special session broadcast over USATV cable television shows that Merrera did adjourn the special session.

A special session was called by Mayor Lorenzo Cerezo to approve a resolution certifying the submission of all the requirements pertaining to the P55 loan being borrowed by the municipal government Land Bank.

Cerezo was present at the SB building during the special session, which has raised questions prompted some sectors to conclude that he was pressuring the councilors to pass the controversial resolution.

The mayor defended in a radio interview that he was there only because he wanted to extend moral support.

SPECIAL SESSION

The certification was being sought by Land Bank before the P55 million loan could be released to the municipal government.

 

Councilors Jose Carrera and Franco Francisco moved for the approval of the resolution but Merrera ruled they cannot approve the measure without the requirements, among them the programs of work of projects, as stated in a previous ordinance approved by the council.

The vice mayor, a former civil engineer at the Department of Public Works and Highways, asked for the programs of work of the different projects to be constructed as listed in the ordinance earlier approved by the SB.

Section 2 of that ordinance states, “Should the Office of the Mayor or the Local Chief Executive through its department heads concerned fail to submit and furnish copies to the Office of the Sangguniang Bayan the following: a) detailed estimates of the project; b) plans and specifications of every project within 90 days upon approval of this Ordinance, the same Ordinance will be rendered null and void in its entirety.”

Merrera also denied the motion of Alipio seeking the division of the house, saying that it could not be done since the mayor’s office failed to submit the required documents within the 90-day period that expired last August 22.

Merrera also noted he received the notice of special session just before the end of office hours of Aug. 27.

MARKET PROJECT

One of the projects to be funded by the P55 million proposed loan is the construction of market stalls on Mabini Street, which will need the relocation of present stallholders at the adjacent Plaza Rizal.

The other projects to be covered are: Plaza Rizal St. commercial strip (P15M), Binmaley auditorium (P23M), Binmaley public market (P12M), Binmaley bulletin board (P1.2M), Binmaley tricycle terminal (P1.8M), rehabilitation of Binmaley infirmary, with P1M CIBAC partylist counterpart (P1.8M) and rehabilitation of Binmaley rural Health Unit II (P1M).

The stallholders refuse to vacate their exiting stalls until the mayor’s office shows a document indicating the construction period and a guarantee that they will be given slots in the new stalls.

Merrera underscored that he is not against the projects of Cerezo but only wants protocol to be followed to ensure legality and transparency.

Even the drawing of the projects submitted by the office of the local chief executive to the SB was unsigned by the one who did it, Merrera said.—with report from Eva Visperas

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