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City Hall continues to scrape money for BOT deals

April 23, 2008

By Lizanilla J. Amarga

CITY Hall is scraping out whatever is of its coffer’s savings just to come out with millions of pesos to pay off UKC Builders, Inc. as “sharing of revenue” for the Cogon and Carmen public markets which are supposedly covered by Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) contracts.
The Commission on Audit (COA) already warned the City Hall through its Annual Audit Report 2006 that the two BOT contracts are “disadvantageous to the coffers of the city government” and that it cannot just re-align any of its funds to be given out as “revenue share” to UKC Builders, Inc., the BOT project proponent for the two public markets.
This developed as more ordinances are now passed and approved by the City Council, majority of whom are member of the PaDayon Pilipino party, in favor of the interests of UKC Builders, Inc. still involving the Cogon and Carmen public markets
The proponents and supporters of these ordinances favoring UKC interests are members of the PaDayon Pilipino political party led by its titular head former city mayor now vice-mayor Vicente Emano.
Recently, opposition City Councilor Zaldy Ocon and City Councilor Teodulfo Lao together with former City Councilor Atty. Roy Raagas and Atty. Rogelio Bagabuyo formally filed a P1.4 million Plunder Case against Emano, UKC Builders, Inc. president Uy Yian Ping and 25 other respondents.
The main contention of their Plunder Case is that the Emano administration with the help of its PaDayon Pilipino city councilors and department heads conspired to create a monopoly of interest in favor of UKC Builders, Inc..
This by coming out with orders and passing ordinances and resolutions for UKC Builders, Inc. in violation of the Procurement Act, Local Government Code, Revised Penal Code on concealment of documents, Anti-Graft and Corruption Law among others  and to the injury of Cagayanons and the government in general.
The 30-page affidavit contained a matrix of the 11 ordinances and contracts the Emano administration and PaDayon Pilipino city councilors at that time awarded to only one contractor, UKC Builders, Inc., amounting to P1.4 billion.
 
But as if the P1.4 billion contracts for UKC are not enough, the City Councilors aligned with Emano yesterday passed two more ordinances to give UKC Builders, Inc. a total of P30 million as “revenue share” for 2007.
Already, these same city councilors approved without reservation the 2008 Annual Budget Ordinance where under Special Accounts City Economic Enterprises a P60 million allocation is set forth to be given to UKC Builders, Inc. as “revenue share.”
Also, there is now an authority-to-loan out P500 million ordinance to “buyback” the two public markets from UKC Builders, Inc. among other ordinances.
The two legislative measures yesterday include Proposed Ordinance Nos. 2007-203 or “An Ordinance Appropriating the Sum of P2,352, 335.00 from the Underestimated Revenue Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) Calendar Year 2007 to be made available for transfer of funds for Contractual Obligation – Sharing of Revenue.”
Also, Proposed Ordinance 2007-2004 or “An Ordinance No. 2007-204 or “Reverting the Sim of P26,648,750.00 from the Various Savings from the Different Offices in the 2007 Annual Budget, and reappropriating the same to be made available to augment transfer of funds for Contractual Obligation – Sharing of Revenue.”
The two ordinances were “certified urgent by the Honorable City Mayor” but it was not clear as to whether it was City Mayor Constantino Jaraula who signed such certification or Emano who is currently the acting city mayor with Jaraula abroad.
The opposition through city councilors Roger Abaday, Lao and Ocon hotly contested the passage of the two ordinances granting more funds to UKC Builders, Inc. but they were outnumbered.
Lao even read to them the PIATCO anomalous contract which the Supreme Court has declared as null and void considering that the deal involved the release of public funds to private entities despite a BOT agreement signed.
“But they didn’t listened. In fact, City Councilor Reynaldo Advincula challenged us instead,” the city councilor said in the dialect.
Abaday and Ocon also manifested their objections to these UKC-favored ordinances but to no avail.
 

Written by admin · Filed Under Cagayan de Oro 

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