FIRST SAY:
Theology is ignorance with wings.
—Sam Harris
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Manila Mayor Honey Lacuna said matter-of-factly that former mayor Isko Moreno’s administration left some P17.8 billion debts or outstanding bank loans for her succeeding administration to pay.
She told the monthly media forum of the Manila City Hall Reporters’ Association last week that during her term which is due to end next year if she is not reelected, the city was able to pay P2.5 billion of these loans. The forum was held at the Harbor View Restaurant.
By the lady mayor’s estimates, it would take the city government of Manila 20 years to pay the P17.8 billion debt left behind by the Isko Moreno administration.
"The enormous size of Manila's debt cannot be financed with the funds that we currently have," Mayor Lacuna said.
She said payments for the city’s contractual obligations are so burdensome that these are hindering the smooth flow of services that Manila offers its residents.
Some of the expenses the funding of which would be jeopardized by the debt burden are the usual “ayuda” to senior citizens who now total 203,000, persons with disabilities and solo parents numbering around 50,000, and the roughly 20,000 student beneficiaries of the city-run Universidad de Manila and Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila.
"The local government's capacity to meet the needs of the city is being affected," Lacuna added.
The loans from Landbank and other financial institutions were reportedly used to bankroll infrastructure projects, including the expansion of the Ospital ng Maynila, construction of the Manila Skydeck, construction and maintenance of various health centers, and redevelopment of the Manila Zoo.
Those who pass by España Blvd. in Sampaloc won’t fail to notice the modern and tall building of the Ramon Magsaysay High School (RMHS) where I graduated. This is one of the buildings built using those loans. Another one is the impressive Justo Albert Elementary School in Dapitan St., also in Sampaloc. These and many more will be Isko Moreno’s legacy to the students and residents of Sampaloc.
Manila, the country’s capital city, is home to 13.7 million people and is the third richest city in the country with total assets of P40.711 billion.
Come to think of it, Honey Lacuna should not be complaining about these debts incurred by the city. As Vice Mayor of Manila during Isko’s term, Honey presided over the City Council which was predominantly composed of Isko-Honey majority councilors. Lacuna and these councilors passed the ordinance that gave Isko the authority to borrow from these banks, and guarantee the payments of this indebtedness. If there is something wrong, Honey Lacuna and the councilor are also to blame.
The topics of Manila’s debts and the way City Hall has been running the affairs of the city are surfacing anew because of the next local elections.
Isko has met with the same group of Manila reporters over a sumptuous native lunch at the Adriatico Arms Hotel where he discussed his own vision of how a growth-oriented urban LGU should be run. To be fair, the former mayor did not mention any direct criticism against Mayor Honey Lacuna, but his actuations and schedule of activities all point to the fact that he will be running for mayor of the city, challenging the incumbent and several other hopefuls.
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During the administration of ex-President Rodrigo Duterte, there was a police officer who made quite a name in fighting big drug syndicates. He is Police Col. Jovie Espenido. Wherever he is assigned, sooner or later the big drug lords (who also dabble in local governance as mayors) and their relatives die in shootouts, encounters, or during service of arrest and search warrants.
Lately, Colonel Espenido testified at a hearing of the House of Representatives Quad Comm (a super committee of four panels) about his activities then, following direct orders from Sen. Ronaldo “Bato” dela Rosa, then chief of the Philippine National Police (PNP), and President Duterte himself.
Espenido told the lawmakers that Dela Rosa ordered him to liquidate drug personalities but supposedly protected drugs lords like the late Albuera, Leyte mayor Rolando Espinosa Sr. and his son Kerwin Espinosa. The police officer, who had become disillusioned with the PNP because he had offered his life many times just to do his duty but was last in line in the promotions process and was even a victim of character smearing, decided to tell all in the House hearing.
The reward system for each kill was true, he admitted. Twenty thousand pesos for every drug pusher killed, he said, adding that the money was downloaded by Sen. Christopher “Bong” Go, then senior executive assistant of Duterte. The slush fund managed then by Go came from official intelligence funds of the President, and increased by funds from money from Chinese-run Philippine Offshore Gaming Operators (POGOs) were purportedly “funneled downward” from Go’s level to bankroll the operation.
“From my experience, I can say that the PNP is the biggest crime group in this country. I did my job faithfully, but I could not be promoted because I am always on some derogatory list,” Espenido said in an affidavit which he read before members of the quad comm.
Espenido, who has been on a floating status since April, told the four House committees chaired by Surigao Rep. Robert Ace Barbers that upon Duterte’s assumption to office in 2016, Dela Rosa told him to rid Albuera town of illegal drugs, which he said meant “neutralizing” drug personalities like the Espinosas. The police officer knew then that in police parlance, “neutralizing” means killing, since the fight against illegal drugs during that time condoned all means to achieve the mission, including illegal ones.
Colonel Espenido also learned that top PNP officials were receiving money from the Espinosas, a fact admitted to him by Mayor Espinosa and his accountant Virbeca Diano. He even took hold of the logbook, copies of cleared checks and affidavits of this as part of the case buildup, submitting these to Police Brig. Gen. Franco Simburio, PNP provincial director of Leyte, but nothing happened after this.
Espenido also said that Mayor Espinosa also alleged that police payouts were being made to allow unhampered drug operation in Region 8 including parts of Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, and that he did not allow the deletion from the book of names of policemen who were on the take.
These are serious charges that the two senators and ex-President Duterte will have to explain, as physical evidence exist—cleared checks, logbook, ledgers, etc.—tending to confirm the allegations made by Police Colonel Espenido.
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