Council mulls approval of Mayor’s projects

In a recent article posted at The Manila Standard website, Mayor RDI made clear that projects to solve the garbage and water problems have yet to be approved by the Sangguniang Bayan. Both are basic services and are spawning frequent complaints from the community and in social media.

Vice Mayor Marlon Lopez and some Sangguniang Bayan (SB) members are certainly not happy with the article which many say would further widen the rift between the two co-equal institutions of the local government. Before the Mayor can implement a project such as the sanitary landfill or a large-scale construction of the water system, he needs authorization from the Sangguniang Bayan.

The SB is waiting for the Barangay Captain of Villaflor to prove that public consultations were made before giving the go signal to the Mayor to develop the land to be used as a temporary controlled dumpsite.

Further, the SB wants a declaration from an authoritative entity stating that the Lapantay dumpsite is no longer suited to become a sanitary landfill and thus, there is a need to find another site for a landfill which shall be in Villaflor. Once they got this, they might then issue a resolution paving the way for the usage of the Villaflor dumpsite or sanitary landfill.

In the case of the rehabilitation and construction of the water system, the SB is waiting for the so-called Water Consortium to give a letter of no objection to the project. The last administration contracted the construction of a new water system and sewerage treatment plant to the Consortium which remains suspended since no “notice to proceed” was given to them. The SB clearly wants to be sure that there will not be any legal case filed against them if another contractor will be doing the water project.

Being a first-term Mayor, Ilagan wants to swiftly solve the garbage and water crises which might go from bad to worse if not addressed quickly due to the approaching high tourist season. The Mayor opined that both the MDRRMC and the Association of Barangay Captains passed resolutions clearly stating the importance of having a new dumpsite in Villaflor.

The Mayor also stated that he is willing to go to court versus the Consortium to tackle the water problem. He said that the funds are available and that there will be great improvement in the water supply once the projects are completed. All that is needed is the authorization from the SB which appears to be not forthcoming.

The Manila Standard article can be seen as a warning signal to the SB members to get their act together and pass the necessary legislations to get the projects started at the soonest possible time.

Meanwhile, the people of Puerto Galera are not really interested in the squabble of the executive and the legislative. All that they are interested in is getting their trash collected and that water continues to pour out of the taps.

Many pundits say: “True most of it is politics as it is apparent that everybody is preparing this early for the 2019 battle of The Ilagan versus The Dolor. But some are also legitimate procedural and administrative matters that need to be accomplished to prevent a repeat of the mistakes of the past.”

“It would be great to see the Civil Society Organizations get involved in the discussions and their voices heard thru public hearings or meetings of the Municipal Development Council. The first one to realize this will get the public on his or their side because it is the CSOs who can organize dissent or consent on any project in this part of the world.”