Why exposés rise during election

President Arroyo is reportedly arriving in Bacolod before the Holy Week to preside the soft opening of the new Bacolod airport in Silay City.

Team Unity candidates will accompany the chief executive, according to Gov. Joseph Maranon. This may be a boost to the province but the President may have to iron out the resentment of Maranon and majority of Negros’ town executives against Agrarian Reform Secretary Nassar Pangandaman.

La Castellana Mayor Enrico Elumba and 29 of the 32 mayors of the province belonging to the Negros Association of Chief Executives have endorsed a resolution citing Pangandaman as a "persona non grata" in the province and demanding for his immediate resignation.

The resolution stemmed from the controversial installation on Thursday of 57 farmer beneficiaries in Hacienda Velez-Malaga, all members of Task Force Mapalad (TFM).

Pangandaman said he did not mean to show disrespect to Negros province officials as all he did was install the farmers. He also pointed out that he serves at the pleasure of the President.

The installation was done without prior coordination with the provincial government and local officials of La Castellana town. What made it shocking was that the Regional Mobile Group of the PNP, which Pangandaman brought with him, barricaded the bridge leading to Barangay Robles and the hacienda. Many students, who were taking their final examinations that day were unable to take their tests.

Pangandaman said there were no more legal impediments to the installation of the TFM members. But during his interview at ANC, Pangandaman said there were still questions on the credentials of the other beneficiaries. TFM members pointed out that this is contradictory. After saying that there were no more impediments, Pangandaman is now saying that there is.

But the President may have to answer several embarrassing questions if media is given the time. One of these is the report that the Presidential Anti-Graft Commission (PAGC) has filed administrative charges against TESDA director general Augusto Syjuco and five of his ranking officials. This was reportedly because of a highly anomalous printing transaction.

Syjuco was last reported possibly filing his bid to run for the third congressional district of Iloilo in lieu of his wife, Rep. J. Syjuco.

Lawyer Alex Espino, Syjuco’s top aide, reportedly claimed that the PAGC story was a kuryente by provincial administrator Manuel Mejorada. He said all they received was the notice to show cause why graft charges should not be filed against the Cabinet secretary.

Syjuco has reportedly already submitted a six-page answer to the PAGC order.

Named co-respondents in the case were deputy director general Santiago Yabut Jr., lawyer Marjorie Docdocil, Ma. Lourdes Villanueva, Clifford Paragua, and Brenda Furungan, chairman and members of the Bids and Awards Committee of TESDA.

PAGC chairman Dr. Constancia de Guzman ordered Syjuco and the other respondents to file their counter-affidavits to the allegations by the PAGC investigation office.

Within the next few days, the PAGC unit will come out with its ruling on the case.

More IT jobs in Bacolod

The President may find herself bombarded with a lot of questions about her warring allies in the local level, but she can at least point out that Teleperformance, a technical support and customer care service firm, recently announced that it is hiring over 600 more employees for its Bacolod site.

The positions available include technical support representatives, customer service representatives, account managers, call center manager, quality assurance analysts, QA supervisor, team leaders, reports analyst, mission control specialist, lead trainers, communication trainer, employee relations associate, and company nurses.

Teleperformance-Bacolod attributed the success of its Bacolod branch to the outstanding performance of its employees and local management who won the hearts of clients, paving the way for more business for the city.

The company is now completing its call center training curriculum, which Teleperformance-Bacolod had committed for Negros in collaboration with the academe.

Claire Bedia, director for administration and human resources, said that as soon as the curriculum is finished, it will be presented to TESDA for accreditation.

This will be used in call center training programs of different colleges and universities in Bacolod and Negros Occidental.

P24 M to help solve Iloilo’s traffic problem

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas has been smiling since last week. This is because the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) will allocate $500,000 (P24 million) to help solve Iloilo City’s traffic problem.

Actually, JICA’s $1-million package includes the town of Banaeta and aid for the town’s fisheries management program.

Treñas said JICA will hire and pay the consultants who will study and draft the traffic and transport management plan for the Metro Iloilo area.

Another important component of the program is the traffic summit to be held after the May 14 elections. This will thresh out actual problems in the city’s traffic situation.

JICA had also committed to fund the construction of two flyovers worth P400 million from Gen. Luna to M.H. del Pilar and from SM City to Jalandoni Extension in Baolilao, Mandurriao.

The Metro Iloilo Water District may have resorted to water rationing but for Mayor Treñas the problem can be corrected soon because the city government is equipped to handle such major problems.

ADDENDA. The hottest political news from Iloilo province was the report that former San Joaquin Mayor Bastik Serag filed his certificate of candidacy for mayor and will run against his younger sister, re-electionist Mayor Nimfa Serag Garin, wife of former Rep. R. Garin. The 65-year-old Serag stressed that nobody had influenced him to run against his sister. There were insinuations that former Miag-ao mayor Gerry Flores, who is running for congress against Rep. J. Garin, was reportedly the reason why peace advocate and human rights lawyer Andy Hagad is again throwing his hat into the political ring as an independent candidate. He will contest Rep. Monico Puentevella, who will be opposed by Vice Mayor Renecito Novero, who is running under the ticket of re-electionist Mayor Evelio Leonardia. Meanwhile, former Bacolod Mayor John Orola Jr. said yesterday he may run for mayor. If he finally decides to run, that will make the Bacolod mayoralty race a four-way fight among Leonardia, former Mahoy Joy Valdez, lawyer Joel Dojillo and now Orola… the much awaited news from Capiz was the announcement of Sen. Mar Roxas and mother, Judy, of the Capiz slate of the Liberal Party, which is headed by Vice Governor Vicente Tanco as gubernatorial bet with Panay Mayor Felipe Barredo as vice gubernatorial bet. Outgoing Capiz Gov. Vicente Bermejo will be the LP mayoralty bet for Roxas City, while his running mate will be city councilor Ronnie Dadivas. City Mayor Antonio del Rosario will be the LP bet for congressman of the first district. Councilor Fredenil Castro will be the standard bearer for the second district. The Roxas decision more or less confirms that the LP leader is still the acknowledged top man of Capiz province together with his mother, Judy Araneta-Roxas, widow of the late senator Gerardo Roxas.