Bacolod City Legal Officer Allan Zamora yesterday identified Bacolod Rep. Monico Puentevella as the incumbent official who is working against the Bacolod City Government Center project.

Zamora said an official of the Government Policy Procurement Board confirmed to him Monday that Puentevella had requested them to issue an adverse opinion on the project based on a query filed by former Bacolod Vice Mayor Ramiro Garcia. Zamora said this confirms the suspicion of city officials that there are attempts, also from incumbent officials, to sabotage the project for their own agenda which is very much against the interests of Bacolod and its people.

Puentevella denied the allegation, claiming he does not know anybody at the GPPB. He said perhaps some people must be paranoid.

City mayors warn
senators vs. conversion
BY NESTOR P. BURGOS JR.

ILOILO CITY -- The League of Cities of the Philippines has warned senators that they will lose electoral support if they allow the conversion of 13 municipalities into cities by exempting them from income requirements of cityhood.

LCP President and Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas said they will not support and will even campaign against senatorial candidates who will favor the granting of exemptions to the municipalities.

"All those who will vote to grant the exemptions and those who will abstain in the voting will not get our support in the May elections," Treñas told supporters, including 172 barangay captains here during a meeting over the weekend. He said this includes senatorial candidates of the administration.

RPA seeks gun
ban exemption
BY GILBERT BAYORAN

Members of the Revolutionary Proletarian Army-Alex Boncayao Brigade who entered into peace talks with the government in year 2000, have applied for gun ban exemptions before the Commission on Election, the military said. Lt. Col. David Tan, spokesman of the Army's 3rd Infantry Division, yesterday said the granting of gun ban exemptions to RPA-ABB members depends on the Comelec.

The applications for gun ban exemption were filed before the Comelec in Manila.

We will only follow the instructions of the Comelec, Tan said.