By HERBERT VEGO
YOU must have noted that in his fifth State of the Nation Address (SONA) the other day, President Benigno Simeon Aquino III never recalled his “kung walang kurap, walang mahirap” campaign spiel. It was understandable because, had he said so, he would only have succeeded in reminding his “bosses” that corruption and poverty had worsened in his four years in office.
A “hidden” example of corruption happened to be the topic of this paper’s editorial last Saturday, which was all about the P5-million swimming pool funded by the Tourism Infrastructure and Enterprise Zone Authority (TIEZA) and constructed on a “hidden” forest in Barangay Dagsa-an, Buenavista, Guimaras.
That editorial questioned the integrity of Mark Lapid, TIEZA chief operating officer, for funding the project in the absence of any memorandum of agreement with the local government unit and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
The President appointed Lapid to the TIEZA post after his father – or was it shortly before? – had voted “guilty” at the impeachment trial of Supreme Court Chief Justice Renato Corona in 2012. If that was no “reward” for Sen. Lito Lapid’s vote, then I don’t know what it was.
Based on information gathered from the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Guimaras, the construction of the swimming pool was a “transaction” between Lapid and Rep. Rahman Nava. There was no attempt on the part of TIEZA to obtain the required DENR clearance, the area being an eco-park under the administrative jurisdiction of DENR.
DENR Secretary Ramon Paje was obviously kept blind about the project. Otherwise he would have opposed it because the location was not a tourist spot but a seedling nursery under DENR jurisdiction. It was ironic that trees had to be uprooted and limestone extracted to accommodate the 375-square-meter swimming pool which, according to conversant engineers, would have cost less than half a million pesos only or a tenth of the released fund.
Even assuming that the pool was not overpriced, what was the logic in building it on a secluded forest? In effect, it had “dissolved” a useful seedling bed.
TIEZA, originally known as Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA), had been created to build infrastructure projects aimed at boosting the tourism industry.
When broadcaster Neri Camiña and I took up this matter on a radio program recently, somebody called our attention alleging that Buenavista’s Mayor Eugene Reyes had not participated in the anomaly.
However, based on the records, way back on November 23, 2012, a committee headed by Buenavista Sangguniang Bayan member Dan Habana announced that the local government of Buenavista was the recipient of a TIEZA fund amounting to P5 million for the swimming tool.
On the other hand, based on the investigation report of forester Tommy Doyola, the municipal government of Buenavista had not been coordinated with during the actual construction of the swimming pool even when it was supposed to be the contractor.
Since the present DENR regional director, Jim Sampulna, was not yet in office at that time, obviously he had nothing to do with the anomaly. Eventually, however, he relieved the head of the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Office (PENRO) for questioning Lapid.
That being the case, this corner suggests that Sampulna take up the matter with his boss, Secretary Ramon Paje. I understand that the latter and other DENR national officials are coming to Iloilo City tomorrow for an executive meeting at the DENR regional office./PN
