CLARK FREEPORT – A confident Mayor Dante Torres of Guagua, Pampanga dismissed the recall petition against him as nothing but black propaganda and practically branded his detractor as “Judas.”
Torres said he has not reneged on his promise of good governance and has in fact succeeded in putting up reforms in the town hall. A petition to recall Torres for “loss of confidence” has been initiated by his own Liberal Party (LP) running mate in the 2013 elections, Juan Pring, who claimed to have already collected some 2,000 signatures for his ouster and vowed to gather more before the May 13 deadline.
Guagua has close to 55,000 registered voters and about 11,000 voters’ signatures or 20 percent is needed to recall the mayor. During the Balitaan media forum organized by the Capampangan in Media, Inc. (CAMI) in cooperation with the Clark Development Corp. (CDC) and the Social Security System (SSS) at the Bale Balita here last Friday, Torres answered Pring’s allegations and dismissed his initiative to recall him.
Among the contentious issue raised by Pring is the non-operation of the P25-million slaughterhouse project. Torres explained that operating the slaughterhouse at this time will be “a losing economic enterprise.” “Patse inoperate ke ing slaughterhouse, dagdag ya pang additional funds na lumwal keng munisipyu (If I allowed the operation of the slaughterhouse, it will add up to the funds that will be spent by the town) because it will be a losing economic enterprise,” the mayor explained.
He said there is also a “budget ruling” that if the executive allowed a project that is a losing economic enterprise, he will end up in trouble. “Ika ing misabit (I will be hooked).” “In the meantime there is a problem, would you stop the project?
That won’t be a good management decision. Instead why not look for a solution to remedy the problem like looking for somebody to operate it so that the town will not be burdened by the cost,” Torres explained further.
But the mayor said based on the records from the municipal government, the papers of the slaughterhouse project seem to be in order. “Ing papelis na (Its documents) above par la. Ing release of money is based on the report of the town engineer and the municipal government is not the one funding the project. The project was funded by the Development Bank of the Philippines.
If there is an anomaly, it is in the form of commissions. Now if you ask me if Guagua lost, yes but it was in the cost of money. But Guagua did not lose in the building construction,” Torres stated. As for the MQUAD Development and Property Management, Inc., Torres said they were invited as investor and they went to the town council to present their credentials.
Torres said a public hearing was conducted to know the pros and cons of the project. The MQUAD project is “not
a done deal” the mayor stressed. The public hearing was meant to feel the pulse of the people, he added. Torres said it is Pring who was saying it’s a done deal because “he doesn’t know the facts.”
Torres also denied that he has a cordon sanitaire. “That’s not true,” he said. The mayor also denied that he was unavailable for consultation with Pring. “Oyta pin ing maka pagtaka, running mate ke ot makanyan ing gewa na (That’s really puzzling, he was my running mate but why did he do that),” Torres said adding that Pring could just have texted him. “It is because of personal interest,” Torres said when asked what motivated Pring to initiate a recall petition against him.
The mayor said Pring wanted his close aides appointed to juicy positions in the municipal government and refused to reconcile with their political enemies. According to Torres, one of Pring’s close aides wanted to become the municipal assessor but he is not even qualified, another wanted to be general manager of the water district while another wanted to be the head of the Office of the Senior Citizens Affairs (OSCA).
But an OSCA head must a president of the OSCA in one of the barangays but he lost, he added. “If Pring really has any intention to run after grafters, he could just have supported our leadership and moved to investigate the reported
anomalies,” Torres said. “He wants to dictate me,” he added.
Torres said he even hired Pring’s driver in the municipal government upon his (Pring’s) recommendation but only to find out later that he (driver) was the one who gathers derogatory information just like Judas. Meanwhile, Torres said the municipal government gave due recognition to Alberto Sita and Erick Lingad for their honesty. Torres said Sita and Lingad found P30,000 which they quickly turned over to the municipal government which returned it to the grateful owner.
