Pangasinan governor bares state of provincial government

LINGAYEN, Pangasinan – The present state of the provincial government was outlined on Monday by Governor Amado Espino, Jr., possibly in order to justify the seeking of P950M letter of credit for the province with Land Bank of the Philippines.

In his speech before the provincial board, read by Provincial Administrator Rafael Baraan, Espino mentioned some of the mega projects he intend to build for the next two years which, he added, “will enable Pangasinan to move forward.”

These include a commercial airport in Lingayen, a commercial seaport in Sual, fish landing facilities, fish processing plants, mango processing plants, food terminals, storage facilities and silos/warehouses for rice, onion and corn and others.

Espino’s speech was apart from his State of the Province Address (SOPA) which he earlier delivered in front of the provincial capitol sometime in January this year.

In his speech, Espino presented photographs of infrastructures owned by the provincial government now in advanced state of deterioration and urgently needing renovation and rehabilitation.

These include some of the existing buildings in the provincial capitol complex, the provincial nursery, different agri-demo centers, district hospitals and others which are now all in state of deterioration.

The provincial capitol, the Finance Building as well as the Lingayen Resort Hotel are now all undergoing total rehabilitation since Espino took over the helm of the province.

Although Espino did not categorically state on where the funding of these will come from, Bince suspects this might have something to do with a draft resolution filed before the provincial board seeking to give the governor the authority to negotiate a letter of credit of P950 million with the Land Bank of the Philippines.

Provincial Board Member Alfonso Bince, Jr. said although these projects are very commendable, he will oppose if these will be funded by the proposed P950 million letter of credit with Land Bank, to be paid by the province’s Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA).

If the province will obtain a letter of credit, it will authorize the Land Bank to intercept its IRA before it is released by the Department of Finance and Budget.

Bince hinted that Espino’s presentation may have something to do with a draft resolution just submitted in the provincial board on Monday, seeking to give Espino the authority to negotiate the P950 million proposed letter of credit with Land Bank.

Although the draft resolution was not discussed yet in the provincial board, Bince served warning he will oppose this because that is tantamount to a blank check to be given to the provincial governor.

“It would appear that the P950 million letter of credit is the equivalent of the IRA of the province. So, that means, we are going to use the entire IRA for one year just for that letter of credit alone,” said Bince, a lawyer.

Since it is tantamount to a blank check, the letter of credit can be withdrawn anytime for projects, Bince said.

He suggested that if the province is going to borrow money, he prefers that it should be in the form of a direct loan for specific projects but not a letter of credit.

To date, Pangasinan still owes Land Bank P350 million. With the letter of credit, the province will underwrite the previous loan, so it can use the other P600 million for projects.

At the same time, Bince noted that all the projects to be funded by Governor Espino pertain only to construction, rehabilitation, demolition and others and nothing about food production and projects that will create jobs.

At the same time, he also wondered if the mega projects planned by the present provincial administration can be finished in two  years. (PNA)