Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora yesterday said he will file charges for violation of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act against Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella and others involved in the purchase of an overpriced Information Technology package given to the different schools in the city.

Zamora said he will include in the case to be filed before the Office of the Ombudsman Department of Education regional director Victorino Tirol and the Merryland Publishing Corp., the supplier of the IT package.

He said that, based on the report submitted by the investigation panel, it is clear that there was an overprice in the purchase of the IT package and this is grossly disadvantageous to the government. Tirol refused to give any comment for now, while Puentevella, who was in Manila, could not be reached.

Guv backs mayor's
move vs. Pangandaman
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Gov. Joseph Marañon yesterday said the resolution of the mayors of Negros Occidental calling for the resignation of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman and declaring him persona non grata should be supported by Negrenses.

"It's about time that we take a strong stand on the actuations of national government officials when they come to our province," he said. The mayors of the Negros Association of Chief Executives issued the resolution in reaction to the way Pangandaman installed 57 farmer beneficiaries, most of them members of Task Force Mapalad, in Hacienda Velez-Malaga in La Castellana with the use of the police and Army, and amid the threat of violence, La Castellana Mayor Enrico Elumba said.

Bet offers 6th district alternative;
Candidates flock to COMELEC
BY CARLA GOMEZ

Jesus Manuel "Buting" Zayco Dabao, 54, filed his certificate of candidacy for congressman yesterday saying he wants to give the people of the sixth district of Negros Occidental "who have been stuck with no alternative, a choice."

Dabao said he wants to wake up the sixth district of Negros Occidental, which he called a sleeping giant that has an abundant potential, especially in tourism.

It is about time change comes to the sixth district, he said. Mayor Eric Saratan and his running mates in Talisay City, and the dela Cruz family in Don Salvador Benedicto also filed their CoCs yesterday.