Mayor Denies He Shamed VM in Public

By Mortz C. Ortigoza

BINMALEY, Pangasinan – The Mayor here denied he humiliated his predecessor who walked out in a public assembly the former hosted.

Mayor Pedro Merrera said Vice Mayor Simplicio Rosario misunderstood him when he compared the expenses during the stints of the latter when he was the mayor of the coastal town for nine years and his (Merrera) nascent administration.

THE LOGGERHEAD Mayor and Vice Mayor of Binmaley, Pangasinan. Mayor Pete Merrera (left, photo) and Vice Mayor Sam Rosario.

“Hindi pinahiya iyon. I’m just trying to evaluate iyong pag-gastos. Evaluation naman iyon, e. I have the right to report to the people so the public may know. Na misunderstood niya. Bakit siya lang ba masasaktan iyong sinasabi ko naman noon at pagastos ngayon? Kung nakatipid so much the better”.

Affronted by the remarks of the incumbent mayor that some of the projects done during his stint as nine years’ mayor like the P11 million overpriced mobile clinic and gasoline consumption, Rosario stormed out from the Ulat ng Bayan attended by town officials and their constituents.

“Nag walked out ako, sumigaw ako. Sabi ko: “magdemanda ka na lang!” kaysa sasabihin mo pa sa mga tao. Ano ang gusto niyang e proved doon parang may ginawa ako? Hindi ako mag – rereact sasabihin niyang may ginawa?” a livid Rosario said in a radio interview.

Merrera said that his predecessor should be happy about the belt tightening measures he undergoes amid the yearly amortization of the local government unit to the bank on the loan contracted by Rosario when he was the chief executive.

“Dapat sinabi niya tama iyang ginagawa mo Mayor at least makakatipid may pambayad tayo ng utang. Hindi ba iniisip na maraming utang? Iyon ang inaano ko. Wala naman akong pinapatamaan e. Ang sinasabi ko based on the report based on the actual. Ano ang kailangan kung sabihin doon? E actual iyon na pangyayari,” Merrera told Northern Watch Newspaper.

Merrera proposed budget of P306 million for next year is still pending in the legislature controlled by the mostly majority allies of Rosario.

It was a reduced annual budget from the present year’s P360 million due to the preceding three years or 2021 as the basis for the allocation of the national taxes to local government units in the Philippines.  2020 was the year the country reeled financially on the scourged of the pandemic.

Merrera said this town saves a lot financially under his leadership compared to the time of Rosario.

“At least malalaki ang natitipid ko. Kung sila ang gumagastos ng 900 ako gumagastos ng 200. Dapat matuwa sila”.

He shrugged off when asked if this first class town will suffer the fate of nearby Dagupan City when the majority opposition councilors there are up in arms to Mayor Belen T. Fernandez by stonewalling her proposed programs.

When former Mayor Brian Lim - the patron of the Magic 7 - was the chief executive of the second class city, majority of the councilors allied with Fernandez procrastinated in approving the 2022 budget.

The inaction prejudiced the Lim Administration to meet its responsibility to his constituents.

“Kung iyan ang gusto nila. Wala akong ano doon pero I will tell the people ano ba ang ginagawa ninyo (Sangguniang Bayan)? Ano ba ang ano natin?” Merrera told how he would deal in case the law making body headed by Rosario would paralyze his government.

To solve soil and infrastructure problems here, the Mayor, a Civil Engineer, reached out to his contractor-friends to lend him their heavy equipment gratis. The actuation saves the public coffer by P6,000 and P7,000 per hour for the loader and grader, respectively.