Guv, 6 solons taking
sports complex back
DepEd eyeing PSC management, Monico says
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Negros Occidental provincial government is revoking its donation of the Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City to the Department of Education and will take legal action within 15 days from notice if the DepEd officials fail to respond, Jose Ma. Valencia, chief of staff of Gov. Joseph Marañon said yesterday.

The decision of Gov. Joseph Marañon has the support of the six congressmen of Negros Occidental, four of whom have already signed a joint resolution for the recovery of the Paglaum Sports Complex to prevent it from reportedly being ran by a private foundation, Valencia said.

The governor is writing to Education Undersecretary Ramon Bacani informing the DepEd that the provincial government is rescinding the deed of donation and asking them to return the property within 15 days, Valencia said.

Can Arroyo be an impartial
BREDCO arbiter? dad asks
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

Can complete impartiality be achieved if the President acts as arbitrator in the problem between the Bacolod Real Estate Development Corp. and the city government?

Bacolod Councilor Lyndon Caña said he is not sure because it is an open secret that BREDCO president Simplicio Palanca is one big supporter of the administration party which is headed by President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo, with Speaker Jose De Venecia as one of its leaders.

De Venecia, who was in Bacolod Monday for a series of meetings to push for Charter change, as part of a nationwide campaign, said that the city and the management of BREDCO should sit down immediately and resolve their problem amicably for the good of the people of Bacolod and Negros.

Maricalum owes P260M
BY CARLA GOMEZ

The Maricalum Mining Corp. in southern Negros Occidental that stopped operations in 2001, still owes local governments more than P90 million in real property taxes and its employees about P170 million in backwages and separation pay, Sipalay Mayor Oscar Montilla said yesterday.

Montilla said that MMC that was based in Barangay San Jose, Sipalay owes his city more than P50 million in back taxes, and Cauayan town almost P40 million.

Last year the Sipalay City government attempted to auction MMC property to collect on its backwages but was stopped by a temporary restraining order issued by the Court of Appeals in Cebu. We are still appealing the ruling, Montilla said.