Giant Rally Vs. P.5-B Loan Mars Sual

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

SUAL, Pangasinan -  A giant indignation rally participated recently by three thousand residents here after the application of a half-a –billion pesos’ loan of the the mayor and members of the legislature of this one of the country’s richest towns was approved by the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP).

“Alam ninyo po at alam po nating lahat na ang pera na iyan ang walang patutunguhan. Pag iyan po ang ni release po ninyo. Ang kawawa po ay ang taong bayan ng Sual,” Leeward Caburao – the leader of the rally – articulated to the media the demonstrators’ opposition to the decision of the LBP about the irony of the P500 million debt. This despite the almost four hundred million budget this town derived from local and national taxes and appropriated them to its yearly budget.

P.5-BILLION LOAN. Three thousand residents in Sual, Pangasinan rallied against the administration of Mayor Liseldo Calugay and the Land Bank of the Philippines after the latter approved the half-a-billion pesos’ loan. The three thousand protesters who walked recently around the town with blaring placards with slogans like “Stop Corruption in Sual. Pondo lang sa Election” and the thirteen thousand signatories of a manifesto opposing the mammoth loan cried that the amount will prejudice the social services of the local government unit because major parts of its yearly revenues go to the amortization of the debt. (Photo is internet grabbed)

He questioned the national bank why it allowed the approval of the loan while it violated the two-third votes of the members of the law making body as required by law. He said it lacked one signatory to complete the necessary votes.

“Kulang ang istado nila sa mga pumirma dapat miyembro ng Sanggunian Bayan. Iyan po ang manipula talaga sa loob ng administrasyon. Nagtataka rin kami sa Land Bank kung ano meron bakit naaprubahan ang loan Land Bank?

A Civil Case has been filed at the Regional Trial Court early this year to stop the loan at the LBP.

Titled as Civil Case No. 19927, Declaration of Nullity of Ordinance No. 02-2021 Loan Agreement with Preliminary Injunction and Issuance of a Temporary Restraining Order.

It was filed by Plaintiff Michael G. Abata against Municipality of Sual represented by Mayor Liseldo Calugay, Vice Mayor Dioneil Caburao, Land Bank of the Philippines, et al.

Caburao – who runs for the election of the town council here - assailed the collusion of the LBP and the local government unit (LGU) headed by reelectionist Mayor Calugay for the timing of the loan as the May 9, 2022 election nears.

He explained the sinister intention behind the loan by the power-that-be here that could affect the funding for the social services of the people up to the next generation.

P.5-BILLION LOAN. Three thousand residents in Sual, Pangasinan rallied against the administration of Mayor Liseldo Calugay and the Land Bank of the Philippines after the latter approved the half-a-billion pesos’ loan. The three thousand protesters who walked recently around the town with blaring placards with slogans like “Stop Corruption in Sual. Pondo lang sa Election” and the thirteen thousand signatories of a manifesto opposing the mammoth loan cried that the amount will prejudice the social services of the local government unit because major parts of its yearly revenues go to the amortization of the debt. (Photo is internet grabbed)

Caburao lambasted the elective officials that they are using the parts of the loan for their reelection.

“Iyan po ang pinagtatakahan ng taong bayan ng Sual kung kailan malapit ang eleksiyon doon sila pumilit na maglabas ng pera o maka-pag loan. Dahil ito ay gagamitin po talaga nila sa sarili nilang pang interest sa election na kasalukuyan”.

He said that the Calugay Administration did not explain what infrastructure projects the proceed of the gargantuan debt would be used.

Aside from the 3,000 protesters carrying placards with slogan like “Stop corruption in Sual pondo lang sa election” that demonized the debt, Caburao told reporters that the bank had already released P100 million for the LGU’s coffer.

The yearly amortization of the mammoth loan will be shouldered by the revenues collected by this coastal town from local and national revenues.

He said that 13,000 residents here have signed already their opposition to the loan.

With a more or less 28,000 registered voters here, the 13, 000 signatories could affect the electoral stocks of the incumbent mayor and his allies in the Sanggunian Bayan (lawmaking body).

Mayor Calugay is pitted with former First District Congressman Jesus Salvador Celeste for the mayorship contest next year.

He said another mammoth rally is being hatched to be held in front of the Land Bank in Alaminos City.

The mayor of this city is the nephew of Celeste.

The 1,000 MW Sual Coal-fired Thermal Power Plant operated by San Miguel Corporation hosting town was ranked No. 2 richest in 2017 among the 1,488 municipalities in the Philippines.

The 2017 Annual Financial Report of the Commission on Audit said that Sual on that year had a P2.53 billion assets. But in 2019, Ceoworld.biz downgraded the town to become No. 4 with an asset of P2.989 billion. It was eclipsed there by Cainta, Rizal (P4.933-B), Limay, Bataan (4.065-B), and Mariveles, Bataan (3.842-B).

In 2020, Cmci.dti.gov.ph did not include the coastal town as what it titled the Top 10 richest municipalities in the Philippines.

It ranked the ten richest towns as based on the sum of their scores on the four pillars: Economic Dynamism, Government Efficiency, Infrastructure, and Resiliency. The top -10 municipalities were:

1)      Cainta, Rizal (55.03 Points); 2). Taytay, Rizal (51.06); 3) Baliwag, Bulacan (51.03); 4) San Mateo, Rizal (48.35); 5) Santa Maria, Bulacan (47.42); 6) Binangonan, Rizal  (46.98); 7). Silang, Cavite (46.23); 8) La Trinidad, Benguet (46.19; 9) Malay, Aklan (46.16); 10) Kalibo, Aklan (45.97).

Since the three years' term of Calugay started in 2019, critics have accused his administration of incompetence.

With the consummation of the half-a-billion pesos loan this town will further recede to her glorious rank as one of the richest towns in the Philippines because the significant part of its collected revenues like the P200 million a year business and property taxes from the power plant and the P150,000 national and local taxes will be used for the yearly amortization of the loan.

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