Dagupan City government bought landfill lot without dads’ okay?

DAGUPAN CITY — The city government purchased a controversial 30-hectare land in San Jacinto town which it plans to develop into a sanitary landfill, last April 12, allegedly without any authority and appropriation from the city council, a local paper said.

The Sunday Punch, published by Ermin Garcia Jr., said it got a photocopy of the disbursement voucher from the city treasurer’s office which showed that the amount of P11,780,441.28 was released to Jose Mariano Cuña, owner of the property in Barangay Awai, San Jacinto.

A Land Bank of the Philippines check (No. 171394) approved by Mayor Benjamin Lim Jr. was issued to Cuña as payee, the paper said.

The amount, it said, was just a partial payment of the total P16 million.

When sought for comment, Lim told The STAR in a phone interview, "I’m sick and tired of these innuendoes. Let them file a case against me."

"I paid for the lot for (a) landfill, period, because I’m resolving a serious problem. Let the people judge me," he added.

Lim insisted that his basis for payment was the authority granted by the city council last April 5 under Resolution No. 3626-2002, for the purchase of the property.

The mayor even announced the purchase during a meeting with House Speaker Jose de Venecia Jr. last week.

But Garcia, in his column in The Sunday Punch, said, "The preparation and issuance of the check on April 12 followed the special session called by the Sangguniang Panlungsod on April 5 to rush the unanimous approval and adoption of Resolution No. 3626 that gave Mayor Lim the blanket authority ‘to search for, invest in and purchase a parcel of land for the purpose of housing, reservoir and the like.’"

The city council, Garcia noted, however, earlier adopted Resolution No. 3590-2002 "holding in abeyance" the ordinance authorizing Lim to enter into a contract for the purchase of the controversial Barangay Awai lot for P16 million due to alleged onerous provisions in the proposed transaction.

Councilor Farah Decano earlier argued that Resolution No. 3590-2002, which she authored, is still in effect since it was not lifted nor repealed.

Garcia quoted Vice Mayor Vittorio Fernandez as saying that Resolution No. 3626-2002 could not be implemented because it lacked any appropriation from the city council.

Fernandez clarified that while the resolution gave a blanket authority to Lim to initiate the search for and purchase of a piece of land, it cannot be consummated without any appropriation ordinance from the council, as provided for under the Local Government Code.

Told that the councilors were surprised about the purchase of the San Jacinto property, Lim said, "They were surprised? Surprised? So be it."