Balibago is very progessive says chief.
PHTO BY BONG LACSON
ANGELES CITY– Barangay Captain Tony Mamac of Balibago has challenged his rival to go to the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and prove that the loan for the construction of the barangay hall has remained unpaid.
Mamac also denied the allegation of former councilor Alfi e Bonifacio, his prospective opponent in the barangay elections, that his administration has incurred a lot of debts which has allegedly remained unpaid prompting him to levy barangay taxes on various establishments, including movie houses in Balibago, out of desperation to raise barangay revenues.
During a press briefing last Saturday, Mamac narrated how he established the barangay hall by first settling the issue of the 2,000 square-meter property where it is located with the acquisition of its own transfer certificate title.
“I don’t even have table and a chair to start with when I assumed office in 2007,” Mamac recalled. He added that as soon as he got the TCT for the lot, the barangay council authorized him to construct the barangay hall for which he requested some of his students at the University of Assumption to draw the plan and perspective of the building which he then presented to the city hall for approval.
He said the city hall initially estimated the project to cost P27 million but lowered it toP18 million after his appeal. Mamac said he loaned P12 million from the LBP for the start of the construction of the two-storey edifice.
Mamac said he applied for another loan of P2.3 million in 2011 for the construction of the adjacent barangay social hygiene clinic which has earned for the barangay P3.3 million, a clear profi t of P1 million since it was established.
Mamac clarified that the barangay social hygiene clinic is meant to complement the city social hygiene clinic which could not serve all of the registered 14,000 sex workers in the barangay. Fields Avenue, which is located in the barangay, has earned international notoriety for its girlie bars which mostly cater to foreigners.
The village chief said City Ordinance 106 requires sex workers to undergo pap smear tests and check-up once a week for the prevention of HIV and STDs. But he said the city social hygiene clinic could only cater to about 2,000 persons maximum.
Mamac said if a patient undergoes a check-up for just oneminute, that’s 60 patients per hour, he said. If you multiply that by six you get 360 per day which could mean 1,800 per week. “Where are the other 12,000?” Mamac asked.
He said the barangay social hygiene clinic complements the city because they cannot service every sex worker.
In terms of barangay revenues, Mamac said he implements the Barangay Tax Code which levies barangay clearance fees of one percent of the gross income earned of business establishments per year.
But he said only a maximum of P5,000 is collected from big businesses and as low as P50 from sari-sari stores from some 2,200 business establishments in the barangay.
Meanwhile, Mamac said his rival talks of change in the barangay but lacks a concrete program of how he intends to implement it.
