Names to remember

The budget for the second phase of the Negros First Cyber Center is apparently being deliberately stalled by some partisans of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan under Vice Governor Genaro Alvarez. Alone he cannot stop it, but there are politicians who are in cahoots with him to insure that this project will not push through as scheduled and to be of immediate relief to thousands of people in this province.

The names of these politicians should be etched in the minds of the voters of the province and their families, because these are officials who would sacrifice the livelihood of thousands of people to serve their narrow and selfish interests.

Heading the list, of course, is Alvarez who carries the baton in the SP and who orchestrates what these politicians should do or not do.

There are five names that are hardcores in this Cyber Center case: (1) Renato Gustilo of the 1st district controlled by Rep. Julio Ledesma, Alvarez’ ally.

(2) Manman Kho, who, insider staff say, is usually absent, and then asks plenty of questions, some redundant.

(3) Patrick Lacson who, like Kho is an ally of Rep. Alfredo Benitez and was reportedly the one who gave the NPC wrong information to mislead the NPC to support Alvarez.

(4) Helen Zafra from the district allegedly controlled by Alvarez, and with him (5) is Pedro Zayco who is also in the same district.

These are the dyed-in-the wool followers of Alvarez and it would be, to their mind, to their advantage if the Cyber Project does not operate on time and give (they think) Governor Alfredo Marañon political advantage.

They alone, of course, cannot control the SP, but they are the diehards and their names should be remembered when you vote for provincial officials.

The other SP members are watching from the sidelines, but, so far, they are within the circle stalling the project. They might change their minds if they sense that the public is angry at them.

These SP members, according to insiders, are Dino Yulo, Thea May Dino, George Gitano, Raul Rivera and May Javellana. Yulo, of course, has no love lost with the Governor, but he can be independent if not swayed by his attitude towards the governor for supporting Rep. Bebot Mirasol.

His situation is really shaky. Mirasol who was supported by Marañon against Yulo, has publicly declared to support Alvarez, which means that neither Yulo nor Mirasol will get Marañon’s support. They will have to slug it out by themselves.

Considering that Marañon’s ground support in the 5th district is solid, his swing will mean the victory of whoever gets his support.

Yulo should consider the past as past, and not get sucked in by the Alvarez core group in the SP.

Yulo thus can play ball with the governor and may get Marañon’s support, unless at some point before the start of the campaign in March 2013, Mirasol switches sides and throws his vote to Marañon, which is not unlikely.

The Cyber Center might give Marañon a boost, but that goes with the fact that he conceptualized and worked hard for it. Nobody can claim a better right to claim authorship of this project. But more than Marañon’s political gain is the 5,000 jobs that will be created by the Center. That is a lot of employment that can be generated in a year’s time.

That means at least 20,000 members of the family of the call center agents will have sources of income. For the government, both of the city and the province, the money circulation will be augmented by at least P75 million monthly and a billion annually.

Imagine that money getting into the system and the families, and imagine what loss this is for every day that the Center is not operational.

Is this what Alvarez and his core group want? The way it looks, that is what they want, and for that reason alone, their names should be remembered.

The Philippines is working hard to get more BPOs in the country but this can only be achieved if we have the facilities that will suit the requirements of the locators.

Each day that we wait or delay, so much time will competitors have to gain the upper hand.

The reason of Alvarez et al is that we should not borrow because we will pay interest, as if approving the budget means we are withdrawing the money right away and paying interest. He knows that this is not so. He is using a discarded fiscal economic idea.

The process for the use of that money takes time and inflation is eating up whatever savings Alvarez is talking about.*

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