Thus said yesterday Pampanga 1st District Rep. Carmelo “Tarzan” Lazatin as he turned the tables on his successor who blamed his administration for their failure to pay the employees’ 13th month pay, cash gift and the salaries of job order (JOs) employees.
Lazatin, in a statement, said that the administration of Mayor Francis “Blueboy” Nepomuceno “is illogical.” He added that they should stop blaming him for their inefficiency and management failures.
“These people must be out of their minds. They are at the helm of City Hall for a year and a half but still they blame me for their failures,” said Lazatin, a former-three mayor and bitter political rival of Nepomuceno.
“It’s the mayor’s group which is incompetent and inefficient, ginagawa nilang istupido ang mga tao,” Lazatin added.
Lazatin said that it was Nepomuceno himself who said during his State of the City Address (SOCA) last July that “the city is practicing sound fiscal management.”
“Is this what the Mayor is claiming as sound fiscal management? His administration cannot even pay for mandatory and statutory obligations like salaries and bonuses of employees,” Lazatin stressed.
Lazatin also pointed out that during his administration, he is operating with a budget of P400 million compared to Nepomuceno’s P1 billion budget this year.
“Pero nababayaran namin lahat ng loans, suweldo at bonus ng mga empleyado,” Lazatin said.
Lazatin said the employees’ 13th month pay and cash gift are mandatory and statutory obligations of the city government.
“Pagka-approved pa lang ng budget dapat nakatabi na ang pera para sa bonus na iyan,” Lazatin said.
Lazatin said city hall is having difficulty releasing the 13th month pay and cash gift of some 1,200 permanent, contractual and casual employees because the Nepomuceno administration prioritized the purchase of luxury vehicles.
“Wala nang pera kasi inubos nila sa kabibili ng sasakyan,” Lazatin said.
According to Lazatin, in only a span of one year Nepomuceno purchased a total of 56 luxury vehicles worth P50 million.
“Nepomuceno also purchased millions of pesos worth of guns and is spending millions for the pay of thousands of ghost employees most of them under the payroll of the Office of the Mayor, market and slaughterhouse,” he claimed.
He also alleged that Nepomuceno implemented a road-asphalting project at the cost of millions in the family-owned Sunset Estate in Barangay Cut-cut here.
On the issue of the P400 million loan allegedly incurred by his administration, Lazatin clarified that his administration only incurred P330 million worth of loan, the remaining P70 million were incurred during the incumbency at city hall of Nepomuceno’s father, Francisco.
Lazatin explained that he refused to pay the loan incurred by the late mayor because the buildings that were supposed to be funded by the loan were not constructed.
In contrast, Lazatin said, he had something to show for the loans he contracted:“Nandiyan ang palengke, ang slaughterhouse, mga heavy equipment. Hindi yan ghost at maganda lahat ang pagkakagawa. Yan kung alam nilang gamitin, pagkakakitaan yan ng siyudad.”
“They are announcing that they have a standby credit of P200 million from Landbank of the Philippines na available anytime. E ‘di hindi lang capable bayaran ng city ang loan, puwede pa siyang mangutang. Capable ang city kahit P600 million pa maging loan niya. Tapos tayo sinisisi. Di ba istupido ang mga yan?” Lazatin said.
Lazatin said that the slaughterhouse built under a P40 million worth of loan from the Development Bank of the Philippines is now being leased by a private firm and recently obtained a Double A standard by the National Meat Inspection Service.
“Pinagkakakitaan na yan at self-sustaining na dapat. E ang problema binubulsa yata nila ang kita ng slaughterhouse e,” Lazatin said.
Lazatin also scored Nepomuceno for not using the newly-built San Nicolas Public Market funded by the P180 million loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines, opting instead to hold night markets “wherein he is reportedly selling the rights on the streets for millions of pesos.”
“Kung gagamitin at aayusin kasi nila ang San Nicolas Market, mawa-walan sila ng kita sa night market nila. Kaya mas gusto pa nila yung nasa kalye ang mga nagtitinda,” Lazatin said.
