Arroyo’s plight draws
mixed views in Negros
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO

The continued refusal of Justice Secretary Leila de Lima yesterday to allow former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and her husband, Mike, to leave the country, despite a Supreme Court ruling that she was free to seek medical care abroad, has drawn mixed reactions.

Arroyo was stopped from flying to Singapore at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Tuesday night, hours after the SC ruling.

The former president’s camp said she was suffering from fluctuating blood pressure yesterday and would try to leave for Singapore today.

Rep. Juan Ponce Enrile Jr. (Cagayan, 1st District) yesterday said he is seeking the creation of Anti-Smuggling and Dumping Task Force under the Department of Agriculture to protect local farmers, including the sugar industry.

Enrile, who held consultations in Bacolod yesterday, said the plan to create the task force is included in his House Bill 4626, or the Food for Filipinos Act of 2011, which aims to ensure that the country has adequate food supply to feed its people.

The congressman met with leaders of the sugar industry to get their inputs on how to further improve the bill to be relevant to their needs.

A representative of the Local Government Finance Bureau cited Bacolod City as number 1 in Region 6 in the collection of real property tax in 2010, a press release from the City Hall said.

Alice Suela of the BLGF in Region 6 was in Bacolod City recently as part of a team that evaluated Bacolod City for the EXCELL Award.

Suela said, “In 2010, Bacolod City came out Number 1 Performer in Region 6 in real property tax collection when its actual receipts of P424.53 million were 32.46 percent better than the target amount of P320.50 million.”