Bacolod mayor inks P400-M Landbank loan for gov’t center

The continuing concern about the Guimaras oil spill gave way Wednesday to the inking of a loan agreement for P400 million by Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia with Land Bank of the Philippines manager Jeffrey Mangingo for the proposed government center.

Leonardia waxed ecstatic recounting the efforts of Bacolod officials for 40 years to attain their dream of a new City Hall. The center will be constructed on a five-hectare land along the Circumferential Road in Barangay Villmonte.

The area was donated by the Gonzaga family through the Angela Estate and is worth P14 million, according to JV Tanpinco, one of the Angela Estate directors and heir of the late Fernando "Padok" Gonzaga.

The local legislative board unanimously approved the authority sought by Leonardia to negotiate the P400-million loan from Landbank. The government bank was selected by the Sangguniang Panglunsod because it offered a lower interest rate of nine percent.

"The government center will not just be our legacy to the city, but a gift to the great people of Bacolod who richly deserve it," the mayor said in brief remarks after the inking of the loan agreement.

The deed of donation required that the city avails itself of the lot for use as site of the proposed government center by Dec. 31 or it would be reverted to the donor family.

Besides, added Tanpinco, there is another provision that states that the construction of the center and the buildings must be completed within 31 months.

Councilor Al Viktor Espino, SP finance committee chairman, hinted that the Landbank should hasten the processing of the loan and its release.

He said, "It was not smooth sailing, since the dream process was beset by so many challenges and trials."

Present during the signing were Tanpinco, and Councilors Napoleon Cordova, Greg Gasataya, Reynold Iledan, Thaddy Sayson, Homer Bais, and Dindo Ramos.

Landbank VP and Region VI head hailed the MOA signing as a milestone and said that the bank was honored for having been chosen as Bacolod’s partner in the undertaking.

This, he said, will serve as a testimony to the vision and courage of the leaders of Bacolod.

"I do not believe that Bacolod will ever get a gift like that again," Leonardia said, paying tribute to the heirs of Fernando and Angela Gonzaga.

The government center, he added, will boast a three-story building with an 11,900 square meter space. It will also have a lagoon and a park, Leonardia added.

It will be unique since the center will include facilities and offices of other national agencies that will be constructed there, if possible.

It will truly be a government center for Bacolod and the rest of Negros Occidental, Leonardia stressed.

Actually, the search for a lot for the government center and City Hall started 40 years ago during the term of then mayor, Rep. Romeo Guanzon. The Gensoli family donated a 20-hectare property in Vista Alegre to the city government. Somehow, past three city mayors, the lot was eventually taken back by the family due to the city’s failure to construct the new City Hall.

Leonardia then negotiated for another 10-hectare lot. But when he lost the election; the dream again remained just a dream.

Finally, early this year, the Gonzagas, aside from several others, donated the five-hectare prime land for the government center.

So by the end of this year, the groundbreaking and start of construction of a dream come true may be realized finally. That was a long wait, but worth all the effort.

Finally, the hunt for radioman’s killer

Western Visayas journalists finally had their wish realized.

Police launched a manhunt for Lezo (Aklan) Mayor Alfredo Arcenio, the suspected murderer of broadcaster Herson "Boy" Hinolan from Talisay City, Negros Occidental. Hinolan was station manager of dyIN Bombo Radyo in Kalibo when he was gunned down on Nov. 13, 2004 while urinating near a carnival in the capital town of Kalibo. He died two days later from seven gunshot wounds.

The arrest warrant for Arcenio was issued by Judge Virgilio Paman, presiding judge of the Aklan Regional Trial Court Branch 7, who found probable cause against Arcenio for murder.

Arcenio was initially charged with homicide for Hinolan’s killing but this was amended to murder after a review by the regional state prosecutor’s office.

Witnesses tagged Arcenio as the lone gunman who repeatedly shot Hinolan.

A 10-man team from the Aklan provincial police and the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group, headed by Aklan police director William Macavinla, failed to find Arcenio in his residence in Lezo last Monday.

"We have sent out emissaries to convince him to surrender because it is not appropriate for him, as a public official, to hide from the law," the police chief stressed.

Arcenio was reportedly a former member of the Military Intelligence Group long before he turned politician.

Hinolan’s murder rocked both Negros Occidental and Panay and roused concern among journalists in the region.

No protective gear

While Petron claimed that it had issued protective gear to its workers cleaning up the oil spill on Guimaras Island, no less than Nueva Valencia Mayor Dindo Gonzales Tuesday stopped the manual cleanup of the oil sludge for lack of specialized protective gear for the workers as required by the health department.

The 1,459 workers hired by Petron Corp. were ordered to cease working after the finding that they were mostly not equipped with the protective gear to ward off the toxic effect of the oil on their bodies.

Guimaras Gov. JC Rahman Nava ordered the work stoppage until Petron and local residents hired by Petron for the cleanup had been issued the protective gear.

The reason: results showed very high levels of toxic substances, particularly hydrogen sulfide, in the affected villages.

At least 1,414 people are suffering from oil spill-related diseases or symptoms, mostly respiratory illnesses, the Regional Disaster Coordinating Council reported Tuesday.

This column earlier had noted that several of the cleanup workers were caught in television clips working sans the gear needed to protect them from the oil sludge.

Meanwhile, it seems that the Japanese salvage ship Shinsei Maru and the National Disaster Coordinating Council, headed by Defense Secretary Avelino Cruz, may have reached the same conclusion — to siphon out the remaining 1.9 million liters of bunker fuel.

Presidential Adviser for Western Visayas Rafael Coscolluela said that was the position adopted by the Philippine government on how to solve the problem of what to do with the sunken Solar I.

That was reportedly the option discussed by the government and the insurers of Solar I, which sank off the coast of Guimaras last Aug. 11. The oil spill has contaminated four coastal towns of Guimaras as well as two coastal towns of Iloilo province. It has also threatened coastal communities of Negros Occidental.

Negros Occidental Gov. Joseph Marañon, backed up by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan, has issued an urgent appeal to President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo to solve the problem of the remaining bunker fuel, pointing out that will remain a sword of Damocles unless it is solved.

But the final decision on what to do will have to wait for several weeks until the insurers of the tanker as well as Petron shall have finally run through the options presented by the salvage experts.

In short, that’s a long wait. Meanwhile, the debate and the anguish remain.