All 20 Pulupandan barangay captains are asking Philippine Ports Authority general manager Oscar Sevilla to cancel the contract of the firm that operates the arrastre and stevedoring services of the port of Pulupandan town.

In their letter, a copy of which was furnished the DAILY STAR by Pulupandan Mayor Magdaleno Peña, the barangay captains asked Sevilla to cancel the contract of the Integrated Stevedoring and Arrastre Corp. owned and operated by the Mondia family.

They said it would be in the best interest, not only of Pulupandan, but also of the province, “considering that the Mondia family is a known supporter of the Communist Party of the Philippines/New People's Army.”

“No doubt the income from their arrastre operation is used by the Mondias to support and fund the activities of the CPP-NPA in Negros Occidental,” they alleged.

They claimed that Martin Mata, a known Regional Sparrow Commander of the NPA, was hired by Samson Mondia as his security officer during the election period. Mondia ran for mayor against Peña.

They also said that Mata, along with Mondia, is among those accused in the failed ambush of Peña on May 30, 2007.

If the contract of ISACOR is not cancelled by the PPA it is directly aiding and financing the CPP-NPA, they also claimed.

The 20 barangay captains sent a similar letter to Peña asking him not to renew the business permit of ISACOR in Pulupandan for the same reason.

Peña said he did not act on the renewal of the ISACOR business permit because of the letter of the barangay captains.

He said town residents are planning to barricade and shutdown the port if PPA allows ISACOR to continue to operate.

Samson Mondia, ISACOR vice president, said the accusations cited by the barangay captains are “irresponsible and baseless” designed to harass and malign his family.

Our lawyer is studying the filing of charges against these barangay captains before the Ombudsman for their baseless claims, Mondia said.

Both letters are signed by barangays captains Lissa Marie Bantigue (Brgy. Zone 1), Ericson Cepida (Zone 1-A), Tino Estares (Zone 2), Hernaldo Era (Zone 3), Wilfredo Servania (Zone 4), Jimmy Polido (Zone 4-A), Cynthia Barrato (Zone 5), Allan Jacildo (Zone 6), Gilnor Desengaño (Zone 7), Francisco Dorepes Jr. (Canjusa), Johnald Juaneza (Crossing Pulupandan), Ronnie Moreño (Culo), Romulo Campantero (Utod), Rosal Ortega (Pag-ayon), Jonah Jarlata (Tapong), John Ordaniel (Palaka Sur), Erna Tortocion (Palaka Norte), Ramil Tenero (Mabini), Ramon Tandoy (Ubay) and Roberto Valenzuela (Patic) copies of the letters furnished by Peña showed.

Mondia stressed that Mata has never been his security officer and the charges filed against him for alleged involvement in the Peña ambush, which he has denied having a part of, are still pending before the Negros Occidental Prosecutor's Office.

“The barangay captains do not have any concrete and verifiable evidence to back their allegations but simply succumbed to the pressures of the incumbent mayor to issue the statement to suit whatever motive he has,” Mondia said.

The management contract was between ISACOR and the PPA, and contains the grounds for cancellation of the contract, Mondia said.

Nothing in the provisions of the management contract allows anybody who is not a party to it any privilege to petition a government agency to cancel it, Mondia said.

“The sole authority in the pier is the Philippine Ports Authority and no amount of undue influence and false accusations will deny our record in faithfully complying with all the provisions of the management contract that we signed,” Mondia added.

“Neither does the management contract say anything about the way the corporation should use its funds as it goes into the corporate coffers,” Mondia said.

Peña simply wants to use the barangay captains to establish our alleged link with the NPA that he failed to do himself, Mondia said.

Mondia said the NPA admitted responsibility for the ambush on Peña, and the mayor does not have any evidence to prove that we have anything to do with it.

These trumped-up charges will soon end and the truth will triumph, Mondia said.

“Peña has relentlessly harassed us and the letter of the barangay captains is one of the manifestations,” Mondia said.

“Peña's not renewing our mayor's permit is in violation of our right to due process because we were not informed of any violation that we committed, or given the opportunity to explain our side, Mondia said.

Peña said he has asked Mondia to answer the petition of all the barangay captains of Pulupandan. “I waited for two weeks, but he has not appeared,” the mayor said.

Apparently Mondia is not interested in renewing his mayor's permit, Peña said.

“I am not harassing him, the call not to renew the mayor's permit was made by all of the barangay captains of Pulupandan,” he said.

The issue is simple, the PPA gives money to the NPA indirectly through the Mondias, Peña claimed.

Mondia said any meeting between him and Peña should be on neutral ground.

“We believe that the mayor cannot exercise his prerogatives capriciously and whimsically. Our corporation was granted mayor's permits by all the previous mayors in their respective terms,” he said.

It is only during the term of Peña that our permit has been denied without cause or reason, Mondia said.*CPG

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