Panlilio, Pampanga board clash anew on quarry income sharing

SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga - The gap between Gov. Eddie Panlilio and the provincial board presided over by Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao further widened after the latter recently scrapped the P150 share of the provincial government from the P300 tax from every truckload of quarried lahar sand.

“The P150 share per truck imposed as administrative cost during the term of the Lapids had been against the law,” Guiao told The STAR yesterday after the board passed Ordinance 172 despite Panlilio’s objections.

Guiao said the ordinance, passed last week by the board, merely “corrected a legal aberration” in the lucrative lahar sand quarrying operations in the province.

Before the ordinance was enacted, P150 of the P300 earned from every truckload of lahar sand was divided among the host barangay and town and the provincial government at a ratio of 40, 30 and 30 percent, respectively.

The remaining P150 also went to the provincial government purportedly to cover “administrative costs” in quarrying operations.

Records show that since Panlilio assumed his post as governor last July, income from lahar sand quarrying has significantly increased to an average of P1 million per month.

Panlilio objected to the new quarrying income-sharing scheme, warning that “the effects (of the ordinance) will be felt throughout the province, more so by our less privileged people who will be denied the basic services due them.” Panlilio  has been at odds with the provincial board  and  Guiao over various issues, including  his  appointment of provincial administrator Vivien Dabu and provincial attorney Aiza Velez.

Guiao and the board members questioned Panlilio’s insistence that the appointments of Dabu and Velez were already in effect after the board supposedly failed to act on them within 15 days.

In a statement, the provincial information office said only 22 barangays and seven municipalities – Bacolor, Floridablanca, Lubao, Mabalacat, Mexico, Porac, and Sta. Rita – are involved in the quarrying business.

Guiao insisted that the P150 administrative cost that used to go to the provincial government was against the Local Government Code, which, he said, mandates that 40 percent of income from natural resources should go to the barangay and the rest to be divided between the municipality and the provincial government.

“There is no room in the law for the administrative cost which was imposed during the terms of the Lapids for questionable purposes,” he said.

Guiao had filed administrative and other charges against former governor Mark Lapid and his father, former governor now Sen. Lito Lapid, who he accused of being involved in anomalies in the use of quarrying funds during their terms.

Guiao debunked Panlilio’s fears that removing the P150 share of the provincial government would affect the delivery of services to local folk.

“The provincial government would still retain its 30 percent share from all towns hosting quarrying operations,” he said.

Guiao said increasing the income of the host barangays and towns would eventually redound to the benefit of local folk.

Since July, the provincial government has distributed more than P11 million in quarrying shares to the host barangays and towns. Quarrying income for September has yet to be released.