Unpaid sheep accounts

I was surprised at the unpaid accounts by both the local government units and private individuals for the purchase of sheep which the provincial government imported from Australia purportedly for breeding and to develop our livestock industry.

Provincial Veterinarian Renante Decena has a lot to answer for even though the sale is covered by a contract that the same will be payable in three years. In the last two years that these LGU and individuals have been breeding the sheep, if they have done it properly, there should be some returns by now and as such, pay up their obligation.

I hope Decena is not under the impression that he should wait for the end of the three-year period before seeking payment from those who availed of this program.

Granting that the LGUs distributed the sheep to small farmers, a mechanism should have been in place to ensure that the farmers pay-up a portion of the loan so that it doesn’t balloon to a big amount when the three years is up.

Worse are the private individuals who I’m sure entered into this program for business purposes and as such should be called upon to pay for what they have acquired.

Vice Gov. Bong Lacson may be right that perhaps Decena just didn’t exert much effort in collecting from the buyers. They must remember that portion of the province’s IRA is being used to pay-up for the initial loan and had there been diligent collection, the amount for loan payment could be used for other purposes.

With elections coming, it is prudent for Decena’s office to start collecting from LGUs particularly if the chief executives of those LGUs are graduating. I hope too that the Provincial Veterinary Office are looking into the state of these sheep by now and should submit a report as to the progress in terms of uplifting the lives of livestock breeders through this program.

Maybe the provincial government can publish the names of the LGUs and individuals or businesses who acquired this sheep so that the people will know who among these buyers are responsible enough to pay back their acquisition.

Decena should do something about this before the governor’s detractors will use this as ammunition against Freddie.

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As mentioned in my previous column, the Baciwa issue is far from over and Baciwa Director Marichi Ramos is getting the flak again from Mayor MonicoPuentevella for her failure to submit all names of nominees for a director’s position which will be vacated by present Chairman of the Board, Lawrence Villanueva whose term will end this December.

The issue could be put to rest if Marichi will just submit all the names as requested by the Mayor and which is what is required by the law.

If we recall, Marichi took it upon herself to already screen the nominee and just submit Villanueva’s name saying the latter is the only qualified one due to some technicalities she cited such as lack of endorsement or failure to have the documents notarized.

Baciwa insiders and even Mayor Newks said it is not found in the rules that said documents should bear this much number of endorsements or a signature of a notary public. However, it is stated clearly in the rules that all nominees must be submitted to the Mayor so he can choose and send his endorsement to the LWUA.

I was told that one of the nominees is Atty. Nelson Lo who was a former director of Baciwa already and I’m pretty sure Nelson knows what documents must be submitted and the parameters of it being considered valid. He is after all a lawyer and a former Dean of the UNO-R Law School.

Perhaps Marichi knows that without Lawrence Villanueva in the board and Mayor Newks chooses someone else, the tide will sway on the other side.

Well, as far as I know, there is another Villanueva that is actually nominated – Dave Villanueva who is a Past District Governor of Rotary and a board of director of NEDF which remains one of the most credible non-government organization in the province and who I’m sure, just like Nelson, will ensure the interest of the people and the workers of Baciwa.

An unsolicited advice to Marichi – just submit all names and don’t risk getting on the Mayor’s bad side who is after all the one who will eventually decide on who he will endorse to sit in the Baciwa board.*

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