Did Sen. Recto sin?

A news item in the national media yesterday said: “Senate orders detention of three in rice scam.” What about the infamous fertilizer scam that has been reeking for years now? The rice smuggling scam took place only last April. How come the Senate is so interested in pursuing it? Is the fertilizer affair already forgotten? Well, actually, the stuff has been buried in the ground, hasn't it? No plants came out but they did bear votes, I hear.

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It couldn't have come at a more opportune time – the findings released through a website showing that studies have rated Bacolod City as Number One among 120 cities included. The STAR got an emailed copy of the report Tuesday yet, but we had some checks done before also reporting it. The news came shortly after Bacolod also got awarded as the most business friendly city in the Visayas, and a finalist for the national award. Things are really hopping for our city these days.

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That is why, I am trying to console my friends who are quite devastated by the failure of the Province of Negros Occidental to clinch the transaction with AyalaLand for the development of the area near the Provincial Capitol, because of a tiff with SM. Since the area is located in Bacolod City, it would have been a very attractive addition to its skyline. But because of the protest, and subsequent filing of a case against the province by SM, Ayaland has asked to “disengage” (what a euphemism!) from their contract.

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To many people, both in the province and the city, the act of SM was not very sportsmanlike, and in the case of the province, it cannot even offer a Solomonic decision, considering that it is dealing with two business magnates, in full legal battle gear. Ayala has indicated that it is, instead, putting its money in Talisay, the city nearest to Bacolod. Isn't that the next best thing?

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If we look a little farther than our noses, having new developments in Talisay, Silay, or even in Bago City should be welcome to us all because our cities are expanding and will soon, maybe even in our own lifetimes, merged into each other. Just a few decades ago, Manila, Quezon City, Pasig, Marikina, San Juan, Parañaque, and other cities seemed so far away from each other, with stretches of cogon fields between them. Now they have all virtually merged together and one hardly knows where one ends and the other begins. Me, I foresee that happening here, too. So let developers keep coming, the more the merrier, and the better for our cities and our province, too.

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Now what? It has been disclosed that P365 million in pork barrel funds had been disbursed to disqualified members of the House of Representatives. So who will answer for those releases, and have they been accounted for by the recipients? What projects have they put up, and what can the Commission on Audit do about it? Such things would not be happening if there had been regulations governing the use of pork barrels. By the way, a reader asked, what about the case of Migz Zubiri, who was stripped of his post when Koko Pimentel was declared the real winner? The reader asked if it is proper to call Zubiri “Former Senator”.

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No wonder so many are mad at Senator Ralph Recto for allegedly watering down the Sin Tax Bill. Projections are that the taxes to be collected if the original proposals were implemented, would have been between P40 to P60 BILLION per annum. Wow, that is a lot of money, and proponents said it was earmarked for the treatment of those suffering from serious ailments, particularly those suffering from the effects of smoking. Now Recto has resigned as chairman of the Ways and Means Committee after all the blasting he went through. But there are also some views that we should not kill the tobacco industry, especially, because millions of our people are also dependent on it. The head of the Bureau of Internal Revenue is said to be frustrated. Maybe she and the others had the chickens already counted?

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Anyway, another important bill was already passed by the House. This is the so-called K+2 Bill that would add three more years to basic education in this county. Some sectors are complaining about it, but I think they will change their minds when they see the benefits it will bring later. So, to the Education Department, and the government, Go, Go!*

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