Nanding to Ambing: Look who's talking?

COUNCILOR Reynaldo Advincula lashed at ex-mayor Pablo Magtajas, accusing the city’s former leader of ‘‘early politicking’’ in an effort to win market votes at his expense.

Magtajas has accused Advincula of maintaining stalls in city hall-owned markets in Cogon, Agora in Lapasan, Carmen and Bulua in violation of the code of conduct and ethical standards for public officials.

But Advincula said Magtajas was merely riding on what he called a smear campaign against him.

Before pointing an accusing finger, Advincula said Magtajas should first explain the release of P23 million supposedly to pay for a feasibility study for a bridge project shortly before the then mayor stepped down in 1998.

He said Magtajas released the fund on March 26, 1998, shortly before the 1998 deadline for the filing of certificates of candidacy.

"Was that lawful? He (Magtajas) released it without a feasibility study," Advincula asked, adding that the city council, at that time, approved a build-operate-transfer scheme for the Magtajas administation-planned bridge.

Advincula was a member of the city council at that time but he claimed he did not vote in favor of the check’s release because some requirements were not complied with.

"I have a record and I have the details. The question is, where is the P23 million?" he asked. He said he even kept a photocopy of the P23-million check issued by city hall nearly a decade ago.

Which is why, said Advincula, Magtajas should not portray himself like an ‘‘innocent child’’ and like he is ‘‘clean as crystal.’’

He added: "I’m not saying that Magtajas pocketed the money... I’m just asking ‘where is now the money?’"

Denial

Advincula denied he was leasing stalls in any of the city’s public markets.
He said he used to be a stallholder but he waived his right in favor of his sister in 1992 when he became chair of the council’s economic enterprise committee. The stall which he had since 1970, he said, is now registered under the name of his son Reynaldo Jr.

Advincula said he had owed city hall less than P10 thousand in back rentals. But the debt was written off by city hall on the basis of Ordinance no. 10127-2006, he said. The city also wrote of all surcharges and penalties.

"The ordinance applies to all stallholders in the public markets of the city," said Advincula. ‘‘At present, I have no more stalls.’’

He said his sister suffered a stroke recently and her regular payments to city hall were affected.
Advincula said the stall had been awarded to him without political intervention. "It was purely own my own."

Earlier, Advincula admitted to owning coin-operated "videoke" and video game machines at the 3rd floor of Cogon market. The establishment, he said, is registered under the name of his business partner Rene Cordova and a relative.

Advincula said he yielded the business to Cordova after city legal officer Cancio Guibone questioned his business interests at Cogon market.

He said it was unfair of his critics to be accusing him of using his city hall position for his business interests.

Advincula said, ‘‘If that’s true, I would already own a house and a car like some politicians who have enriched themselves by having secret transactions.’’ He said he still lives in a ‘‘squatters’ area’’ near Agora market.

"I have been living with vendors, and I have been serving them for 16 years. I know their problems and I understand the masses,’’ said Advincula.

http://www.cagayandeorojournal.blogspot.com/ that can be read at Gold Syar Daily


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No COWD overpricing says Baldelovar

A DIRECTOR of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) yesterday denied any hand in the alleged overpricing of water meters and machines bought by the firm last year.

There was no overpricing, said former broadcast executive and COWD board secretary Joel Baldelovar.

Baldelovar, a former area manager of Bombo Radyo Philippines, and COWD chairperson Raymundo Java were linked to the alleged irregularities involving the purchase of water meters, a compressor and a welding machine.

But Baldelovar said he and Dr. Java did not decide on their own. He said the decision to buy devices and equipment was approved by the COWD board which is a ‘‘collegial body’’ composed of members with ‘‘independent minds.’’ It was, according to Baldelovar, ‘‘a collective decision."

He described the accusations as ‘‘foul and unfounded’’ and ‘‘fabricated,’’ adding that the COWD board’s decision in all the transactions ‘‘were all above board and legal."

He said the accusations were devoid of logic because the members of the COWD board include former city prosecutor Viviana Sarmiento and prominent Cagayan de Oro lawyer Frederico Gapuz. ‘‘It is illogical that they would concur and cast their votes on something that is illegal," said Baldelovar.

Councilor Zaldy Ocon, who received the complaint, said he would ask Java and Baldelovar to shed light on the matter before the city council.

Compressor

On the purchase of a compressor, Baldelovar said the firm Civic Merchandising had a "budgetary offer" of P984,500 for a brand new Ingersoll-Rand Compressor, Model P185WIR, as of March 30, 2005. But he explained that the offer was valid for 30 days only or until April 29.

On April 7, 2005, according to Baldelovar, a purchase requisition (PR) was made for a brand new air compressor. However, he said, the bidding was made by the COWD’s Bids and Awards Committee on Nov. 8, 2005 or seven months after the PR was issued.

"The ‘budgetary offer’ was for 30 days only so it lapsed," Baldelovar said.
Prior to the bidding or on Oct.17, 2005, he said COWD general manager Engr. Gaspar Gonzales Jr. received another price quotation from Civic Merchandising for the latest Ingersoll-Rand compressor model (P185 Platinum Series). He said it was priced at P1.8 million.
According to Baldelovar, the previous model was no longer available in the market as the "last inventory had already been disposed in Singapore."

"Obviously, it was no longer a ‘budgetary offer’," Baldelovar said.
He denied that he, Java and the supplier met shortly before the purchase.

Baldelovar said a failure of bidding was declared last Nov. 8 because the approved budget was only for P984,500. This prompted the COWD board to unanimously approve P1.8 million to buy the Ingersoll-Rand compressor, Model P185 Platinum Series, through "direct contracting."
"Direct contracting" is an alternative method of procurement if goods are sold by an exclusive dealer or manufacturer as provided for under R.A. 9184.

Welding Machine

He said ‘‘direct contracting’’ was also resorted to when the COWD board unanimously approved the purchase of a welding machine.

Baldelovar admitted that there was an offer for a Hobart Contractor 251D for P589 thousand plus a trailer amounting to P48,200 only. But Baldelovar said COWD considered it ‘‘disadvantageous in the long run’’ because spare parts were no longer available in the market.

"Should the board of directors be faulted and accused maliciously when they only acted and exercised their discretion according to what is legal and practical under the circumstances?" Baldelovar asked.

Water Meters

He also strongly denied that water meters bought by COWD were overpriced, saying the allegation was baseless.

In 1997, Baldelovar said, the COWD board passed a resolution to purchase Asahi Meters since it passed the tests conducted for accuracy and efficiency.

"Do Java and I have a hand in the prices of Asahi Meters when the same has been there even before we entered the COWD?" asked Baldelovar, pointing out that the price has been set years before their appointment to the COWD.

Java rejoined the COWD board in January 2001 while Baldelovar was appointed director effective Jan. 1, 2005 by Mayor Vicente Emano.

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2 COWD execs linked to overpricing

TWO ranking officials of the Cagayan de Oro Water District (COWD) are facing an investigation over allegations that they were involved in the alleged overpricing of water meters and machines bought by the quasi-government company last year.

Councilor Zaldy Ocon said he would demand that the two COWD officials––Dr. Raymundo Java and Joel Baldelovar––be investigated on the basis of a complaint made by a group of employees of the company. Java is the chairperson of COWD while Baldelovar, a former broadcast executive, sits as a director of the board.

Java and Baldelovar were accused of having a hand in the alleged overpricing of water meters that were bought by the COWD for P1,900 each.

Ocon, citing the complaint, said the prevailing market price of a water meter like the ones bought by COWD is only P1,200, a difference of P700 each.

Ocon said the group of COWD employees have also linked Java and Baldelovar to the alleged overpricing of a compressor. The mechanical device costs some P900 thousand but COWD bought it for P1.8 million, according to the complaint, after a supposed meeting attended by Java and Baldelovar and the supplier.

The complaint, dated April 30, said the compressor supplier, Civic Merchandising, was given the go-ahead by the COWD board despite a declaration of a failure of bidding by the COWD’s Bids and Awards Committee last Nov. 10, 2005.

A day after Rey Tablan, the chair of the committee, declared the failure of bidding, the complaint said the same company priced the compressor at P1.8 million. Later, the complaint said, the COWD board approved a resolution in favor of Civic Merchandising.

Civic Merchandising’s first price quote for the compressor was P895 thousand but after the supposed meeting with Java and Baldelovar on Nov. 11, 2005, the price shot up to P1.8 million, the complainants alleged.

The signature of COWD technical assistant Leonarda Judith appeared in Nov. 11, 2005 resolution numbered 257, S-05, in favor of Civic Merchandising. On Nov. 17, a purchase order was made by COWD budget officer Marilou Ondap and this was approved by COWD manager Gaspar Gonzales.

Gonzales said he was on official travel and would discuss the matter with the COWD board on Monday.

Ocon said the complaint also showed that the COWD board approved a resolution that authorized the purchase of a welding machine without a proper bidding. The welding machine from Gemac Trading amounts to P984 thousand.

The complaining COWD employees alleged that welding machines with similar features can be bought for less than P500 thousand each.

Ocon said the complainants are regular workers of COWD but they requested anonymity for fear of harassment.

Ocon said he would ask the council to summon COWD officials so they could shed light on the complaint.

"I will ask that they be invited to explain the matter before the city council. There is a need to dig deeper into this issue in aid of legislation," said Ocon, adding that he feared that P905 thousand was pocketed in connection with the compressor deal alone.

Java sent this text message when Cagayan de Oro Journal tried to get his comment: ‘‘Sorry, I’m at a meeting.’’ He then asked that this paper get in touch with Baldelovar but the COWD director could not be located.

Ocon calculated that some P700 thousand could have likely been lost to corruption out of the water meter deal alone with Gemac Trading, a company owned by one Rey Zarate.

The water meters, according to the complaint, were inferior. (That can be read at Gold Star Daily)


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Mindanao Container Terminal Forges Forward

VILLANUEVA, MISAMIS ORIENTAL (MIKE BAÑOS / June 16) - Shipping traffic is finally picking up at the Mindanao Container Terminal (MCT) after international shipping lines serving Northern Mindanao are slowly but surely moving their business to the multi-billion peso facility.

The Phividec Industrial Authority (PIA) which administers the MCT says they are now receiving regular port calls from three shipping lines: Maersk-Filipinas, NMC Container Lines and Hamburg-Sud.

Maersk calls on the port every Wednesday, while NMC ships drop in every Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday. Hamburg-Sud calls only once every two months but will soon be joined by Lorenzo Container Shipping Corporation (Lorcon) which will be calling twice a week.

Container traffic in the MCT so far has been mostly contributed by NMC which regularly ships domestic cargo to Cebu and Manila.

PIA sources said they are still negotiating with American President Lines (APL), probably the largest volume shipper among the foreign shipping lines now calling on the region, since it primarily serves Del Monte Philippines Inc. which has its own port at its cannery in Bgy. Bugo, this city.

The MCT has been identified as a Mindanao flagship project of Mindanao, one of the key infrastructures needed to jump start the island's potential into reality. With a rated capacity of only 1.8 million metric tons (MT), the Cagayan de Oro base port at Macabalan already breached its maximum capacity

Considering the existing capacity of the Cagayan de Oro Baseport is only 1.8 million metric tons (MT), it is considered to have already breached its saturation point in 2002 when cargo throughput reached 2.79 million MT.

The MCT was conceived to fill the supply gap for an efficient cargo handling facility with its state of the art facilities and cargo handling equipment, capable of unloading one container van in about 2.5 minutes compared to 10 minutes for an ordinary port. It has been designed to be exclusively operated for fully-containered and semi-containerized domestic and foreign vessels and has an annual capacity of 270,000 TEUs for its first phase.

With the MCT, cargo can be efficiently shipped to and from its location at the Phividec Industrial Estate in Villanueva, Misamis Oriental, as well as those to and from other key growth centers in Mindanao, to the Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines East-Asia Growth Area or the BIMP-EAGA Region, as well as the Asia-Pacific Region.

The bulk (85%) of the MCT's US$ 85.34 million (Php 3.24 Billion) capital cost was funded by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC) with the balance financed by PIA.

Despite the increasing containerized cargo traffic at the MCT, data from the Philippine Ports Authority (PPA) Northern Mindanao District Office shows total ship calls in region 10's public and private ports still fell 2.54 percent to 31,728 from 32,729 2004. Growth in cargo traffic last year was flat (22,667,638 metric tons in 2004 vs. 22,814,783 MT in 2005 while total passenger traffic shrunk 6.68 percent to 6,607,219 compared to 7,079,894.

This trend has been carried over to the first quarter of 2006, with total ship calls falling 2.09% to 7,116 compared to 7,268 for the same period last year. Overall cargo traffic for the first quarter dropped a hefty 20.96 percent to 4,508,960 MT, driven by the 26.65 percent drop in foreign cargo throughput (2,628,296 MT) and 11.36 percent decrease in domestic cargo traffic (1,880,664). Total passenger traffic likewise dropped 11.42 percent to 1,271,749 from 1,435,690 for the same period last year.

Participants to the Quarterly Regional Economic Situationer (QRES) hosted by the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) Region 10 office last June 8 noted foreign ship calls and trade in the government-owned base ports of Cagayan de Oro, Iligan and Ozamiz have decreased mainly due to the transfer of Maersk to the MCT.

Other factors attributed to the decrease in foreign cargo traffic included the significant drop in imported dairy products and absence of any scrap metal exports during the period. Although two additional inter-island vessels now call regularly on Iligan port, there are still no foreign vessels calling on it.

In contrast, inbound and outbound foreign cargo throughput in private corporate ports within the jurisdiction of the Port Management Offices (PMOs) of Iligan and Ozamiz were attributed to the increased exports of coconut oil and copra pellets from the ports of Granexport Manufacturing Corp. and San Miguel Corporation and copra cake from TMOMI.

There were no exports of cold rolled steel sheets, however, from Global Steel Works International, Inc. (formerly National Steel Corporation or NSC) for January and March, 2005. This commodity accounted for 11.33 percent of the region's US$541.424-million total exports in 2005, ranking third among the region's top ten exports behind crude coconut oil ( 23.92%) and canned pineapple products (15.78%).

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"Branding" change for Bike for Hope recommended

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MIKE BAÑOS / April 15) – Newsmen from this city have recommended that Sen. Pia Cayetano change the moniker "Bike for Hope" to something more relevant without hinting at commercialism.

"When we think of Hope, it's the cigarette which instantly comes to mind," said Vic Cabanag of DXIM Radyo ng Bayan . "Maybe it's better for the senator to change it into something more local or vernacular like say, Pajak para sa Pag-Asa instead of Bike for Hope because it gives people the impression the cigarette company is sponsoring the event and that runs counter to supposed aim of this project in the first place."

With the Marlboro already sponsoring the Tour ng Pilipinas bicycle race, Cabanag said it naturally follows that people will connect Hope cigarette to Bike for Hope which is not good.

Cabanag and other newsmen joined the Cagayan de Oro Press Club's weekly media forum "Media Konek" where Cayetano's "5th Bike for Hope" project was the featured topic.

However, Jun Morante, one of Cayetano's media staff, clarified that Hope in the case of the project stands for "Health of the People, Exercise is Best".

Mike Ac-ac, Cayetano's media relations officer, said some 500 bicycle enthusiasts are expected to join the "5th Bike for Hope" advocacy ride led by Cayetano on June 17. The four-hour, 100 kilometer ride will pass through the Misamis Oriental towns of Tagoloan, Villanueva, Jasaan, Balingasag and Lagonglong before returning by the same route for a culminating program at the provincial capitol.

Mailet Bonoan, Bike for Hope consultant, said the project started three years ago when Cayetano challenged her siblings to bike uphill to Baguio in memory of her late father, Sen. Rene "Companyero" Cayetano. It would also advocate for the improvement of people's quality of life through physical fitness, and biking is one of them, Bonoan added.

The 5th Bike for Hope is a project of the Companyero Rene Cayetano Foundation in cooperation with Misamis Oriental Gov. Oscar Moreno and the Misamis Oriental League of Municipalities led by Tagoloan Mayor Yevgeny "Bambi" Emano.

It is also sponsored by the Department of Tourism, Coca Cola Foundation, Nestle Philippines, Pilipinas Shell, Cebu Pacific, Universal Robina Corp., Pryce Pharmaceuticals, Promax, Endurox and Accelerade.

Bonoan said proceeds from the event would be used to support various health projects of the foundation, which aims to put up the country's first national liver center.

In addition to the advocacy ride, Bike for Hope community seminars will also be held from June 15-16 in the Misamis Oriental towns of Balingasag, Villanueva, Jasaan, Lagonglong, Salay, Balingoan, Tagoloan, Binuangan, Sugbongcogon and Talisayan on topics like solid waste management, prevention of violence against women and breastfeeding.

A fitness clinic will also be conducted for female students in Jasaan and Tagoloan by 2006 Asian Duathlon Champion Ryan "Bad Boy" Mendoza, national women's triathlon champion Ani de Leon and three-time national triathlon champion George Vilog. The seminar aim to empower women by teaching young girls about running and fitness, Bonoan said.

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U.S. Embassy Statement:U.S. Cooperation Continues with Testimony of NCIS at Alleged Rape Trial of U.S. Marines Investigators

Consistent with our commitment to seeing that justice is served in a fair and impartial trial, the Government of the United States has agreed to allow several U.S. Government employees to testify at the trial of four U.S. Marines accused of rape.

Included are two officials of the U.S. Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) posted to the U.S. Embassy in Manila whose diplomatic immunity under the Vienna Convention the U.S. Government has waived for the limited purpose of testifying at this trial. The U.S. Government will also seek to bring back to the Philippines two additional NCIS employees who participated in the investigation of this case.

This decision was made following discussions with the Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs and upon completion of the appropriate steps for requesting court testimony from persons covered by the Vienna Convention.

NCIS had provided the entirety of its preliminary written reports beginning in November 2005 to both the Office of the City Prosecutor in Olongapo and the defense counsels.

The U.S. Government has worked with Philippine authorities under the precepts of the Visiting Forces Agreement throughout the investigation of this alleged incident, and will continue to do so through the completion of the judicial proceedings.

The U.S. remains committed to seeing that justice is served, and looks forward to a fair and impartial process that can provide for a just outcome.

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