To Bid Or Not To Bid
I am once again thrilled by the powered responses to this blog by TagaBulans who are really concern about our town and its leaders. At least, for one, this is a positive sign that we will no longer treat elections lightly. Nor are we just going to turn a blind eye on corruption no matter how petty.
Rudy Bellen and our latest expat reader, Letty, drove the point clearly and quite poignantly: We must do something about our town and it should start with a positive mindset. (I hope Jun Asuncion could write something about this, from the point of view of psychology, changing the mindset of our kabungtos that the issue of corruption is just for politicians to settle. Or worse, for them to take advantage of during elections.)
I would also like to welcome Rai and Angel who shared their “disappointments” about our “chosen” town leaders. They both, however, shared their optimism of a brighter future for Bulan and the rest of the country.
Rudy Bellen, though, expressed a very valid concern of this blogging “exercise” that we are all engaged in, that, according to him, we should not allow ourselves to be reduced to mere “tsimosos and tsimosas” by hurling accusations without a solid backing of evidence. In the early evening news tonight, former Solicitor General Marcelo, was also talking about “evidence” to build a really tight case against corrupt officials. Reason why we, the petitioners in the Mandamus case against Bulan Mayor Rosa de Castro, are very careful in gathering evidence in Bulan’s most expensive bus terminal.
The petition for mandamus, if I may explain again, is resorted to by the petitioners precisely to give the conjugal leadership of Geming and Rosa de Castro a chance to dispel all doubts on the real cost of the bus terminal project and certain collateral issues, like the violation of the Agrarian Reform Law, where a tenant of the De Castro’s was illegally removed and that there was no proper conversion of the land from agricultural to commercial use. Or the violation of the government Procurement Act which is very similar to the controversial ZTE broadband project of the Arroyo administration.
The Bulan Central Bus Terminal suffers the same criticism that the project (bus terminal) did not go through the process of a transparent competitive bidding as required by the Government Procurement Act of 2003 and why did the De Castro’s not opt for a less controversial Build-Operate-Transfer (BOT) scheme which is more beneficial to the government. A BOT scheme would not involve substantial capital outlay on the part of the local government.
Moreover, there are allegations too, that the feasibility study supposedly prepared to determine the viability of the bus terminal, was rigged to favor the approval of the P40 million loan from the Land Bank. According to the petitioners, Land Bank was duped into believing that the Bulan-Masbate trade was so vibrant and that the bus terminal would draw most of its income from Masbate commuters precisely because of this supposed strong trade ties between Masbate and Bulan. What the De Castros did not reveal to Landbank is that half, if not all of Masbate traders now do business with Pilar, Sorsogon rather than with Bulan due to the unresolved problems in porterage and some administrative lapses in the port.
These allegations of corruption are even aggravated by the fact that no bidding was conducted on who should do the feasibility study considering that the cost of the study itself is about P2 million. Diri yuon karawkaraw, feasibility study pa lang, dos milyones na!
When I asked Geming (during our face-off over Imbing Asuncion’s Radyo Patrol program) whether a study was conducted to determine the viability and rationale of a bus terminal outside Bulan’s poblacion, he quickly retorted, there is. He said it was Junio M. Ragragio who did the study. He then taunted me to jot down Ragragio’s address if I would care to verify.
What probably slipped Geming’s beautiful mind was that I knew Jun Ragragio from way back. He was Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s Chief of Staff in the Senate who moved to the Batasan to work for then Cong. Tessie Aquino-Oreta.
But that’s not what intrigues me. Jun Ragragio is from Magallanes, Sorsogon who had confided to me his close blood ties with Geming de Castro. He and Geming both descended from the de Castro clan of Magallanes, Sorsogon. Without putting to question Jun Ragragio’s capability as a consulting service provider, the de Castros’ choice of a blood relative, however, may involve a question of propriety.
Again, to give the conjugal administration of Geming and Rosa a chance to show to all TagaBulans that everything about the Bulan Bus Terminal Project is above-board is to make public all its records, documents and papers, which includes whether the choice of Ragragio as a consulting service provider was a result of “competitive bidding” required by law. If so, who were the bidders who were outbidded by Ragragio, their eligibility as well as the “specific requirements and mechanics” required of them by the local government.
The same is true with the process the De Castros adopted in the contractor of the bus terminal. Mayor De Castro claims that the contract to build the bus terminal was awarded to Baldon Construction Supply of Shirley Baldon of Pampang, Sorsogon City.
A check with the profile of this “construction company” showed that it is a single proprietorship with no known qualifications to undertake projects of this nature.
But what the De Castros cannot show is whether or not a competitive bidding was conducted before they awarded the bus terminal project to Baldon Construction. What they showed only was a notice or invitation to bid as published in Philippine Star newspaper. Perhaps Rosa thought, the TagaBulans are that stupid, that we would be easily duped into believing that an “invitation to bid” is the same as the bidding itself.
The De Castros may be “smart”, but we are not stupid!
Amidst the clamor for the production of all official records, documents and papers pertaining the bus terminal, Rosa et. al., circulated a malicious rumor that the Petition for Mandamus was dismissed by the court a quo and warned petitioners to “better prepare themselves” for a multi-million damage suit that they (the De Castros) intend to file against the petitioners.
Does that sound familiar?
Grafters and corrupt officials trapped by the truth, always threaten truth advocates with libel and/or damage suit.
Ironically, however, when the case was called for hearing last February 11 at the sala of the Regional Trial Court in Sorsogon City, neither Rosa De Castro nor her lawyer was present which prompted the presiding judge to issue a stern warning to them. The De Castro camp’s silence is deafening. Those who received “xeroxed” copies of the petition’s supposed “Order of Dimissal” (sent by Bulan’s Public Information Office) are now wondering why they were not sent copies of the petitioners’ Motion for Reconsideration considering that taxpapeyers’ money was used by Bulan’s PIO in circulating the “Order of Dismissal”. Does the PIO believe that only news or information favorable to Rosa deserved to be circulated?
Well, as they themselves proclaim, pulitika lang ‘yan!
February 26, 2008 at 1:29 pm
i’m glad to have discovered this blog! daanis pampahali homesick:)
mayad pag-isipon na daghan pa man na taga bulan an may malasakit sa bongto ta. we cannot be forever bystanders in the making of our society.
more power to kabatas!
February 27, 2008 at 2:06 pm
Yes, it would be a good topic -Positive Mindset and Corruption in Politics. However, I suggest to do it on another occasion for what interests me now is this deafening sound of silence in barangay Fabrica and Aquino. Well, what has happened to them? A sudden silence after all those noises ? Many would see it as a sign of retreat and defeat. Or are they merely making use of their legal right to silence? Let’s be positive.
In any case, silence is an interesting subject. Silence between musical notes for instance is what makes music possible. Let’s practise positive mindset and guess that maybe they are just composing a New Symphony of Truth for the Barangay Aquino Symphony Orchestra under their famous First-gentle conductor. If so, then they rightly need such a creative period of silence. To compose an avantgardistic twelve-tone piece colored with rich dissonance and harmonic twists is no easy task, requires hours of concentrated work behind closed doors.
Or it could be that they are just reflecting on a sad event that occurred to them. In this way, we give them enough space and respect while they commemorate something in silence.We need not always to be stern to our own people, especially to our leaders.
TagaBulans are Christians and in Christianity silence like during meditative prayer is a common practice and is said to have a nourishing effect on our spirit, like during those holy retreats that we know where we isolate ourselves and do nothing but pray and confess all our sins and transgressions and vow to ourselves a pious way of living thereafter.So let’s just assume that our dear leaders have chosen this moment of silence as they try to reach the divine in their innermost being in their quest for spiritual enlightenment so they may continue with their Christ-centered leadership and devotion to the poor in Bulan the day when they go back to work again. I ask you then dear town-mates to respect this sound of silence, do not disturb and avoid making unnecessary noise.
It’s indeed very beneficial to have a positive mindset for this help us to interpret things soundly, keeps our paranoia away and prevents us from pathologising little things happening in Bulan. I for one love the silence that surrounds me when I write in late hours. In Bulan I loved those moments of silent full-moon nights when I used to sit outside on a bench or on the wall of PTA Elementary school with the guitar in hand. Of course I can’t help but associate these moments with the great song of the great dou Simon and Garfunkel- the Sound Of Silence- the first stanza of which I now quote:
“Hello darkness, my old friend,
Ive come to talk with you again,
Because a vision softly creeping,
Left it’s seeds while I was sleeping,
And the vision that was planted in my brain
Still remains
Within the sound of silence.”
Very fitting to our theme, isn’t it? I really enjoyed playing and improvising on this song during my high-school years in Bulan. Thirty years had passed and my style of guitar playing has changed a lot since then. But this song has remained the same. Like you, the vision that is planted in my brain still remains- to see a brighter Bulan (within the sound of silence?).
jun asuncion
This also appeared in
Bulan Observer
February 28, 2008 at 9:49 am
naiyak man ako sainyo JAsun. I really adore this town and my families out there. Cause the VISION of Bulan remains in me, even within the sounds of Movie Announcements na inbabayabay an next showing.
silence sa gobyerno means inpapalimut an tawo. klarado man kun malinig o may depekto. kabatas, ikaw ngani. if i ask you to show me your wife, will you think longer for a yes answer if shes pretty, wholesome and available? yadi didi an positive mindset ko mga kapatid. Ingat ka lagi KABATAS ha.
March 17, 2008 at 3:42 am
Nano na ini na nangyayari sa bongto ta. We are just being governed and legislated electronically. An mayor ta yadto sa US kay nag-aataman san kaniya apo. An sayo ta na kagawad yadto man sa US kay nagpapa-employ as cook. Marasa pa kay nagkandidato pa siya na kagawad sa bulan kun babayaan man lang niya an mga constituents niya. And yet, he is still receiving his monthly salary (also his share in jueteng payola duly distributed monthly by the son of the mayor). Makaluluoy man ini na kabobongto ta. May guts pa pirmi an saato na mayor na iaddress kita na “mga padaba ko na kabobongto.”
March 19, 2008 at 4:50 pm
obvious ba? syempre kabobongto an bridge to wealth eh
March 26, 2008 at 8:17 am
sa niyan tabi na panahon, napakanormal o natural nalang po sa mga nasa puwesto o sa mga nagpapasasa sa kapangyarin, na kapag kini-criticize san mga tawo, o nasa oposiyun man, madali-on baga tabi magsimbag sira sin…PULITIKA LANG YAN or NAMUMULITIKA LANG YAN…
pero Nano baya tabi kay umabot sin P80 Milyunes yun na kantidad san central terminal sa bulan? san naka-adi na taon, naimod ko na yun na terminal sa brgy. fabrica (sa ingod nira de castro)inbubugsok palang an mga mga harigi sun…..
basi ugang tabi kun yun na kantidad na 80 milyunes, parehuan sun an presyo san Macapagal Boulevard sa Pasay, the most expensive hi-way in the world…(overpriced dahil sa kickbacks) 5kms. lang pero bilyunes an kantidad….basi mairog man sun an bulan terminal, the most expensive terminal in the philippines……ayaw kamo sin karaw….kay makararaw-ay yun na urubak niyo…..daghanon baga tabi niyan an nagtitirios, narurutoy, nag-aaguro an tiyan, nagraragukrok an bituka kay wara sin makaon…tapos an mga nasa kapangyarihan nagpapasasa sa kwarta san bungto….. ayaw man tabi kamo sun…..kay “magabaan” kamo sun sabi sa bisaya….
an sa totoo lang ada deri man kaipuhan san bulan an central terminal kay nano baga, an bulan deri man agihan san mga buses o mga PUVs/PUBs…. na anytime pwde mag stop-over para magpick-up sin mga pasahero…. pareho san common terminal sa Legaspi, Naga, Lucena…. an bulan nasa durho tabi na parte san sorsogon…. masunod dagat na,,, deri man pwde maglangoy an mga buses pakadto sa masbate o samar, or vice versa.
kun yun tabi na ginastos dun sa central terminal , pinatindog yun sin mga school rooms or school buildings, kay grabe baga an mga eskwelahan sa mga baryo an nagkarurungkab san kada bagyo na naagi sa bikol…. mas daghan pa an makikinabang sun na 80 milyunes….. kun imidon mo an mga eskwelahan sa mga baryo, makahibi ka san kamutangan, ruruba an poste nan rungkab an mga bubong….. kaluoy man san mga studiantes kun magkahurulugan san mga panalgan o retazo o tangkop san bubong…
sa kantidad na 80 million, depalita na mga school rooms sun an pwde ibugsok.. deri mao tabi?
April 11, 2008 at 11:29 am
Nonong G:
What happened to this web blog? Any new blogpost? This web blog is not updated since Feb. 24, 2008.
May 5, 2008 at 11:44 am
kumusta na tabi kamo niyan na panahon? daghan na naman na bad news an adi ko mabasa. makawawara sin HOPE.
hello man tabi saimo rudy bellen. thanks man sa post mo, sory
kay naawat an visit ko. dios mabalos.
May 6, 2008 at 7:40 am
hello letty,
nice to hear from you once again. you may want to read bulanobserver.wordpress.com of jun asuncion for more news and info. regards…
July 4, 2008 at 11:59 pm
Politics in Bulan
If you are an elected official, by the end of your term, you will be a millionaire.
If you are poor and trying to survive, by the end of this official’s term, you will be dead of starvation. That sucks!
July 5, 2008 at 12:13 am
Attybenji,
Do you think bad2’s comment was right about the political situations in Bulan? That’s what bad2 and company thinks. I know a friend that writes some articles in “Off the Beaten Path” Mama mia! His articles are hot, fiesty and lots of hot chillis on it. If you know what I mean. I also read your articles and opinions too. My gosh, Bulan has a lot of brilliant and gutsy journalist! I’m impressed! I want to send you my article I wrote “Poignant Memories of the distant Past” email me.
bad2 and 1bad
May 29, 2009 at 4:19 am
i deeply admire the people who stand for Bulan and for its people. I urge the sons and daughters of Bulan to unite and take necessary actions to prevent certain individuals particularly those in public office from raping and exploiting Bulan. Wake up BULANEñOS!