By Ermin Garcia Jr.

 

PANGASINENSES will finally see their non-working governor at work with the expected windfall of infrastructure projects that will be funded by the P6,000,000,000. loan with Land Bank!

Guv Mon-Mon Guico will no longer be seen only signing memorandums of agreements but physically inspecting the 1) Pangasinan East-West Expressway (PEWEX)–North Alignment) Terminals 2) Land Ports and Bus Stops 3) Ports and Marina 4) Bani Airport 5) Lingayen Airport Expansion (Terminal, Runway Exit and Land Acquisition) 6. Capitol Complex, 7. Corporate Center 8. Bugallon Government Center 9. Hotel (Capitol Complex), 10) Amphitheater Phase 2 11) Amphitheater Mall 12) Hundred Islands Resort 13) Salt Farm Resort 14) Pangasinan Polytechnic College/University 15) PPH-Urdaneta City 16) PPH-Lingayen 17) PPH-Tayug, 18) PPH-San Carlos City 19) PPH-Binalonan and 20) PPH-Umingan.

Great??  For starters, that’s 20 grand projects that not even the President of the Philippines can possibly think of implementing over a three-year term and with congress approval.

With the connivance of the provincial board members, the loan is being made to cover all possible infra projects that their eyes and mind can see, never mind how and when the projects will be accomplished.

Yet, any engineer and contractor worth his salt will tell you that implementing 20 infrastructure projects worth P6-B cannot be realistically accomplished within the remaining 18 months tenure of the Guico administration!

But what can surely happen is once the loan is approved, the bidding out of the projects can be accomplished before the end of the Guico administration ends! Translation: Negotiations with favorite contractors will be done, and there’s nothing that succeeding governors (after Guv Guico) who will inherit the big ticket projects can do about the “negotiations”, worse, the responsibility to pay the P6-B loan for the next 25 years rests with his successors possibly over the next 25 years, not his!

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FUTURE GOVERNORS PAY, NOT GUICO ADMIN. Here’s the likely scenario staring back at Pangasinenses with this planned P6-B project loan!

Once the Land Bank releases the loan, the bidding process by and among “favorite” contractors will be fast because all the invited contractors will be told each one will have a major slice of the giant pie. So, expect the faired-haired contractors to play according to the scripted allocation of projects.

Translation: Once the lucky designated “winning bidders are known, the provincial officialdom and will not have to wait long for the largesse (expected normal 20%-30% kickback?) to come their way, courtesy of the contractors. Why? Because Land Bank is not like the DBM or DoF that relies on specific procedures before releasing approved budgets, i.e., budgets are paid by completed phases of the project!

The situation, therefore, begs the question: Why isn’t the Guico administration working with our six congress representatives to file for the funding of these public infrastructures in their respective districts as is normally expected of local governments? He should know this. He was a congressman. Why seek funding from Land Bank for these projects?

Then we note that the 2023 annual budget of the Guico administration only totals P1.3-B that covers largely salaries and other operational aspects of the provincial government.  How long will it take the provincial government to pay a P6-B loan unless the provincial government allocates 50% of budgets for 25 years? How will P6-B loan plus interests impact on future provincial governments’ governance with such a huge loan commitment?

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S.O.P: P1.2-B KICKBACK. Given what is already known about Guv Guico’s management style, “no-talk, no mistake” I’m afraid the Guico administration will not dare commit itself to a timeline for the completion of each of the 20 infra projects during his term.  If he will not commit to a timeline, it means he is avoiding being made to account for the loan and the completion of the projects.

Hopefully, Land Bank and the DILG can see through a potential big corruption deal being plotted by our provincial officials.

Off the bat, exploited Pangasinenses will be looking at a minimum 20% S.O.P. or P1.2-B in kickbacks from the P6-B worth of infra projects to provincial officials, courtesy of favored contractors, with a resolution practically indemnifying the board members and the governor of any accountability after their terms lapse in 2025.

Here’s a word of caution to the members of the provincial board and other officials collaborating to facilitate the processing of the loan application – You and Guv Guico can be made criminally liable if this loan deal is consummated!

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HOPELESS COMMON SENSE. The 7 epaLiFes comprising the majority in the Dagupan sanggunian have stopped surprising me after last two weeks’ regular sessions.

When the majority (Councilors Dada Macalanda, Red Erfe-Mejia, Celia Lim, Irene Acosta, Alfie Fernandez, Alvin Coquia and Malou Fernandez) moved to reject the minutes and delete the full proceedings of the city council’s regular session, like the discussions never happened, it was downhill for them from thereon.

What made me fall harder from my chair was the evident display of loss of common sense by the 7 epaLiFes in last February 21 session.

This time, the cabal led by Mr. Erfe-Mejia and Mrs. Macalanda again did the unthinkable when they acted to “defer” action on the February 14 minutes (not to delete this time, perhaps learning from their stupid performance last Feb. 7).  Obviously, by merely deferring action, the minutes will still don’t go on record. Smart, huh?  I say dumb!

Their argument? They claim the minutes did not reflect the true and accurate occurrences, events of the February 14 session citing the minor corrections by Minority Leader Michael Fernandez of his statements, and asked for deferment of acion on the minutes.

To justify the deferment, the 7 epaLiFes want the minutes to be checked and validated by the three cameras that taped the proceedings. Duh?

Did they mean that three cameras that recorded the session will prove the SP secretariat wrong? Gosh, common sense dictates it only takes one camera to prove their point, but they believe that three cameras covering the session at the same time gives credence to their claim.

Gosh, they likened their argument to their mindset that numbers rule! Hahaha! By their reckoning, three cameras must outnumber the SP’s video recording!

Our city councilors in the majority really hit rock bottom! With politicians like them, the city’s populace will feel safer when AI (artificial intelligence) becomes a better alternative in our lives.

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