NOTE: THIS STORY WAS FIRST PUBLISHED IN THE BOHOL CHRONICLE’S SUNDAY PRINT EDITION.

An unprecedented gathering of thirteen municipal mayors exposed the current administration’s brand of leadership rooted in the “lack of good governance and empathy” using “everything at its disposal to do whatever it wants across the province”.

The thirteen mayors are part of the sixteen mayors that has drawn the line against the present leadership for its alleged “overpriced purchases to unnecessary projects” showing to “everyone that as long as they are in power, they can and will do everything to benefit themselves and not the Boholano people”.

Citing alleged “overpriced purchases to unnecessary projects, eight mayors lambasted Yap on issues ranging from graft and corruption, tourism, unemployment and economy, calamity and relief assistance, infrastructure, quarry operations, media suppression, agriculture, and the provincial budget.

ANTI-CORRUPTION CRUSADE

Sixteen mayors launched the “Crusade for Good Governance for the Boholanos (Crusada Alang sa Limpyong Panggobierno para sa mga Bol-anon)” on Thursday, March 24, 2022, at JJ’s Seafood Village before members of the Bohol media and were covered by regional and national media.

The crusading mayors were Leonila Montero (Panglao) and Romulo Manuta (Maribojoc) of the 1st district, Dave Duallo (Buenavista), Diosdado Gementiza, Jr. (San Isidro), Casey Shaun Camacho (Gefafe), Eugeniano Ibarra (Clarin), Sofronio Apat (Dagohoy), Constantino Reyes (Ubay), and Restituto Suarez lll (Sagbayan) – 2nd district.

Mayors of the 3rd district who envisioned an enlightened Boholanos fighting for good governance were Leon Calipusan (Loboc), Joseph Ranola (Jagna), Christopher Tutor (Candijay), Randolph Ang (Dimiao), Arturo Piollo (Lila), Tita Baja (Garcia-Hernandez), Juliet Dano (Sevilla).

PUBLIC SCRUTINY

A first in the province was the public scrutiny of the provincial budget where Jagna Mayor Joseph Ranola shared his intimate knowledge of the intricacies of budgeting as an advocate of national budget transparency, accountability, and equitability.

Ranola emphasized the importance of the provincial budget as our source of funds for the operation of the government and the right of the Boholanos to examine the budget.

To his surprise, in 2021 borrowings of Php 1.2 billion was booked as part of the income sources even as total receipts increased from Php2.2B in 2019 to Php2.5B in 2020, ballooning to Php4.4B in 2021 then dipping to Php3.9B in 2022 – “there is no consistency in the total receipts figure unlike the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) now called the National Tax Allocation (NTA) where the increase is consistent.”

However, Ranola figured out that the figures shown were intended to raise the creditworthiness of the province as it plans to secure additional debts.

Ranola also zeroed in on the receipts from tax on sand, gravel, and other quarry production as slightly lower considering the public uproar spawned by the extortion operations of the notorious Ivan as widely known in the quarry business.

Ranola also uncovered the appropriation of Php83 million for Bohol Employment and Placement Office with a whooping Php160M outlay intended for the employment of Boholanos in every barangay raising the question – is it for governance or politics? 

WEAK FATHER FIGURE

Loboc Mayor Calipusan reminded the Boholanos that Yap does not deserve to be the “father of Bohol” because of his involvement in a string of graft cases while serving as the Department of Agriculture Secretary during the term of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. 

“He will go down in history as the only governor of Bohol that was meted a 90-day suspension by the Sandiganbayan four months after he took his oath of office as governor”.

The mandatory preventive suspension was over alleged graft charges during his stint as Department of Agriculture Secretary under President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for 18 counts of graft, one count each for falsification and malversation.

GRAFT PRONE

The graft case involved a total amount of Php62.63M when as DA secretary allegedly entered into a contract with Misamis Occidental Representative Marina Clarete with a non-existent Non-Government Organization (NGO). 

“As he claims to be a Boholano who hails from Loboc, he shut down the operation of the quarry in Loboc that was used to improve the barangay roads even as he tolerated the illegal activities of a certain Ivan who collected grease money from local quarry operators”, Calipusan said.

Calipusan also cited cases mentioned in the plunder case filed by former Tagbilaran City Mayor Dan Lim for the purchase of overpriced motorcycles from dealers outside the province ignoring the presence of dealers in the province.

AVENGING LEADER

Montero also decried the manner the governor turned the pandemic into politics as revenge for his defeat in Panglao during the 2019 elections with the residents deprived of needed assistance during the pandemic and typhoon.

“As the father of the province, the governor should not be partisan in the distribution of assistance. Instead, he added to the suffering of the residents by tightening the entry restrictions even as we were scrounging for funds and means to alleviate the desire of Panglaonons to return to Bohol”, lamented Montero.

Montero painfully revealed the manipulative scheme of the governor to lengthen the restrictive requirements to strangle the entry of tourists to slowly kill the tourism industry until owners will yield to the tempting offers of Chinese businessmen to buy out their properties.

“I am a living witness to the ways of the governor. I am a stakeholder and these transactions are done secretly”, said Montero.

BUSINESS POLITICIAN

Piollo, a first-term mayor of Lila expressed his dismay when the fledgling tourism industry centered at the “butanding” or whale sharks loitering off-shore caught the attention of the governor.

According to Piollo, when the governor smelled the success of the efforts of the people of Lila to save the whale sharks from being slaughtered for their daily sustenance and turn it into an income and employment venture, the tourist attraction was killed by a cease and desist order issued by Vice Governor Rene Relampagos based on an ordinance passed by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.

At that time, Yap was serving his suspension but according to Piollo, the governor approached him and offered a Php100 million credit line with the condition that 90% of the proceeds will go to their group and 10% to the municipality.

Piollo also exposed that 1,000 hectares were bought by a Chinese business corporation for cacao plantation displacing residents turning them into serfs instead of introducing a business model anchored on the beneficial sharing scheme with local landowners.

CALAMITY POLITICS

Mayor Gementiza of San Isidro, classified as a 5th class municipality, rebuked Yap for his dismal performance in the distribution of assistance during the Covid-19 pandemic and typhoon Odette.

According to Gementiza, assistance was always laced with partisan politics and utter disregard for the welfare of the residents of San Isidro.

Food assistance was distributed “after the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC)” to determine the political leanings of candidates while the delivery of the relief goods was under the control of private persons identified as supporters of the Yap administration.

Gementiza also raised questions on the unnecessary expense incurred in the implementation of a Quick Response (QR) code which served no purpose with the limited number of devices to read the information stored to keep track of the spread and exposure of residents to the covid-19 virus.

“Out of the 3,200 families hit by typhoon Odette, San Isidro received only 430 food packs”, according to Gementiza.

TREACHERY

“I was naive about political treachery until Governor Yap opened my eyes to its disastrous reality through his deft manipulation to suit his selfish personal agenda.”

This was the statement that was delivered by Dimiao Mayor Ang when he spoke before the media about his personal experience dealing with the governor.

The political treachery came to light after the filing of the Certificate of Candidacy (COC) of mayoral candidates in Dimiao.

A staunch supporter of Yap, the rookie Mayor was swayed by Yap to believe that they would be together for nine years – “we will be partners for nine years”.

However, as early as months before the filing of candidacies, Ang saw cracks in the suave promises of Yap when 200 of his constituents for jobs in government infrastructure projects were rejected.

He was again rebuffed after a number of his recommendations for slots in the Tulong Panghanapbuhay sa Ating Disadvantaged/Displaced Workers (TUPAD), a community-based package of assistance providing emergency employment under the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) were ignored.

Still, he persisted to remain loyal to Yap until three days after he filed his candidacy for mayor, the governor told him to withdraw and file as a candidate for a board seat in the third district.

Stunned, Ang recalled telling Yap that he was not prepared for the board position. Hours later, an informant told him that Yap signed the COC of his political rival as the PDP-Laban official candidate.

BLINDSIDED

Ubay Mayor Reyes painfully recalled how Yap hoodwinked President Duterte into believing that Ubay was not badly hit, preventing the president from visiting the town of his political rival.

LACK OF EMPATHY

Buenavista Mayor Duallo deplored the politicized distribution of assistance that is flagrantly displayed by the provincial government that sadly led to the untimely death of a resident of Barangay Cabul-an after fainting due to the delayed distribution of food packs.

Duallo also slammed the brand of politics the provincial government is flaunting through envelopes with sample ballots from the governor down to the municipal councilors distributed before the campaign period.

With the uncompromising stand of the sixteen mayors denouncing the “lack of good governance and empathy” of the current administration, this initiative will push the Boholanos to join the fight for a change of leadership the people deserve, according to the press statement issued during the launching event. (Chito Visarra)