CamSur debate continues

So were there or weren’t there public hearings on House Bill no. 4728, the House-approved measure that proposes to create the province of Nueva Camarines?

House local government committee Rep. George Arnaiz says CamSur Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte and Rep. Salvio Fortuno are lying when they said the bill’s passage was railroaded and that no public hearings and committee hearings were held since the two attended the March 31 and June 7 of the committee.

LRay and Fortuno reportedly even brought into the Andaya Hall of Congress three busloads of their supporters to attend the June 7 hearing. It was also during that hearing that LRay and Fortuno engaged proponents of the bill in a three-hour debate.

Fortuno was also said to be absent when HB 4728 was deliberated on at the plenary level and was passed on second reading as HB 4820, the version of HB 4728 that incorporated the many amendments by the committee members, including those made by LRay’s father, Rep. Luis Villafuerte, Sr.

Also, 24 of the total of 35 mayors from Camarines Sur’s 1st to 5th districts stood up during the hearing to tell LRay and Fortuno in their faces that they, along with the overwhelming majority of their constituents, support the creation of Nueva Camarines.

LRay also reportedly got a virtual lecture from his father, Rep. Luis Villafuerte, on why his (LRay’s) opposition to the bill was senseless. According to the elder Villafuerte, CamSur as the biggest province in the Bicol Region has become too unwieldy and difficult to govern with its 1,036 barangays which no governor can visit in a single term.

He also blasted the claim of LRay and Fortuno that Nueva Camarines and a reduced CamSur would be two weak provinces, pointing out that their share in the Internal Revenue Allotment would even increase. CamSur will retain its First Class Province status based on its annual income of P733.7 million while Nueva Camarines will also be a first-class province with its computed annual of P591.2 million, said Rep. Villafuerte.

Among those supporting the bill are primary author Deputy Speaker Arnulfo Fuentebella;  Rep. Villafuerte, Rep. Dato Arroyo and Rep. Rolando Andaya.

Can Brillantes make a difference?

Commission on Elections (Comelec) chair  Sixto Brillantes Jr. is obviously pre-occupied nowadays dealing with the resurgence of alleged poll fraud in 2004 elections.

Prior to this, Brillantes has been making the rounds, consulting stakeholders with his plan to draw up reforms in the electoral process.

Among those which Brillantes consulted were election watch groups like the International Foundation for Electoral System (IFES) and the Center for People Empowerment in Governance (CENPEG).

His consultation with various election watchdogs and non-government organizations (NGOs) resulted in the recent creation of a Campaign Financing Unit (CFU) at the Comelec to enforce existing laws on electoral expenses and donations and prosecute violators.

Can Brillantes make that bold move similar to what he did when he filed the first ever election sabotage case (11 counts) against a former Comelec officer before the Pasay City regional trial court?

That remains to be seen but looking at his accomplishments in his first six months in office, there is a clear indication that he is no ordinary guy. Brillantes is already training his sights enhancing the accountability and transparency of Comelec management and operations.

Let’s hope Brillantes could, indeed, make a difference at the Comelec.

CA under fire

The Court of Appeals Special Fifth Division is now being questioned for the alleged “indecent haste” in which a TRO was issued in favor of five insurance companies, which were earlier ordered by a Batangas Regional Trial Court judge to pay $41 million in fire damages filed by a client.

Mapfre Insular Insurance Corp., New India Assurance Co. Ltd., Philippine Charter Insurance Corp., Malayan Insurance Co. Inc., and Asia Insurance Phil. Corp. have been haled to court by Steel Corporation of the Philippines (SCP) after they refused to pay its claims amounting to $41 million.

The Batangas RTC ordered the said insurance firms to either pay SCP $41 million for business interruption and property damage claims or to replace/reinstate the damaged cold rolling mill machineries and equipment covered by insurance policies issued by them.

Now, the steel company is asking for the disqualification of the CA Special Fifth Division for the hasty and irregular issuance of the TRO, which SCP said was tantamount to an injunction issued without due process.

SCP’s lawyers claim it was physically impossible for the CA to go through the six-volume petition and then order the issuance of the TRO in the span of one day.

They added that the CA also issued the TRO without SCP “being heard in a summary hearing” as required by the Rules of Court and that the fact that the TRO had no definite period of effectivity is already a violation of A.M. No. 07-7-12-SC issued by the Supreme Court and as such, operates as an injunction which is invalid since it cannot be granted without prior notice and hearing.

Contrary to the comparative injury tests invoked by the CA in issuing the TRO, they claim that it is not the petitioners-insurance companies, which “will suffer a much greater injury that is both serious and irreparable” but rather the SCP due to the resulting delay in the settlement of its claims.

Being under corporate rehabilitation, SCP says its restoration to normal business operations and former position of financial health largely depends on the immediate replacement of its cold rolling mill, the latter being an essential part of its core manufacturing operations.

SCP lawyers also questioned the measly P500,000 bond required by the CA to be posted by petitioner-insurance companies as grossly insufficient in relation to the damage and injury that SCP stands to suffer because of the hasty issuance of the TRO and the consequent delay in replacing the damaged machineries.

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