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.

He also said the parties concerned could also ask the President or other third parties to intervene to help them reach some settlement. The city government is seeking to raise to P17.5 million the present P800,000 annual rental it has been receiving from BREDCO for more than 10 years now. However, BREDCO wants to pay only P1.4 million a year.

The proposed annual lease rental of P17.5 million is equivalent to 12 percent of the gross income of BREDCO in 2004 based on the records of the Philippine Ports Authority.

Caña said the proposed takeover ordinance will be presented on first reading on Thursday. If people are only open-minded, all suggestion and all ideas, can still be made during the second reading of the proposed ordinance which requires public hearing or consultation with concerned sectors, he said. Meanwhile, Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora yesterday said that in the Oct. 12, 2005 decision of Mayor Evelio Leonardia, the Mayor presented two types of takeover. One is for purposes of bidding, and the other is for the city to operate and manage the Bacolod port, he said.

But, he added, this will depend on the Sangguniang Panlungsod members now that the Mayor has endorsed to them the report and recommendation of the city negotiating panel.

Zamora said the SP has several options - to go back to the negotiation table, to take over, or not to take any action.

On the other hand, Zamora said that if appointed officials like himself know how to protect the interest of the city, there should be more reason why an elected official like Councilor Elmer Sy should do so, because Sy, who did not sign the recommendation, has the mandate of the people of Bacolod City, and he should protect the interest of the city, not that of BREDCO.

Sy questioned why the Mayor did not sign the recommendation of the city negotiating panel. He also said the P17.5 million being offered by the city is "too much."

Zamora said the Mayor did not sign the recommendation is because it was addressed to him. Why would he sign something addressed to himself? He asked.

Zamora had earlier asked Sy to inhibit himself from the deliberation of the SP on the takeover of the Bacolod port after the latter admitted having received P30,000 from BREDCO during the 2004 election.

Informed that Sy describes himself as a "sleeping dragon that had been awakened," Zamora disagreed, saying "Not a dragon but an earthworm."*CGS

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