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Plunder,
Land Suits Haunt Cavite Governor
A court-nullified land
settlement, a plunder case and a rift with the rival Remulla clan are
among the problems that haunt reelected Gov. “Ayong” Maliksi of
Cavite,
the province right next to
Manila in the south.
BY DENNIS ESPADA
Bulatlat
DASMARIñAS, Cavite – The compromise
deal entered in March this year between the provincial government and
claimants regarding a 22-year-old expropriation dispute in Trece Martires
City (36 kms south of Manila) is the reason for the intensifying cracks
between Cavite’s ruling families.
This is evident every time reelected
Gov. Erineo "Ayong" Maliksi speaks after a flag ceremony at the
Kapitolyo (provincial capitol), using the occasion as pitching stage
for his bitter criticisms against the Remulla clan.
The Court of Appeals, acting on a
petition filed by Vice Gov. Juanito Victor "Jonvic" Remulla, recently
issued a temporary restraining order preventing the settlement agreement
backed by the governor from taking effect.
Thus, strife and enmity once again
erupted between the rival camps.
Disadvantageous
The spot where the provincial capitol
building, Department of Public Works and Highways offices, a public
hospital and a multi-million peso stadium now rest was a land donated in
1957 by the O'Hara and De Villa families to the province. Two decades ago,
the provincial government under then Gov. Juanito Remulla expropriated
portions of the disputed property and has since developed it into a sports
complex, forest park, cemetery and residential settlement for squatters.
However, Sonia Mathay (wife of former
Quezon City Mayor Mel Mathay) and a certain Dr. Eleuterio Pascual are now
claiming to have bought the land from the original owners.
The two then forged a deal with the
Maliksis, under which the province shall yield more than 26 hectares of
land to the Mathay-Pascual tandem and compensate them with P50 million
payment based on a P1,140 per sq. m. valuation. The province and city are
to pay P25 million each.
Vice Governor Remulla cried the deal
is unacceptable, and vowed to oppose it.
Beyond the Maliksi-Remulla tug-of-war,
however, is the threat of eviction of least 500 families occupying part of
the contested land from their homes.
"Aside from the fact that most of the
people in the city cannot afford to buy the parcels of land they occupy,
they have nowhere to go," says Sheryll Villegas, secretary general of the
militant Bagong Alyansang Makabayan-Cavite (Bayan or New Patriotic
Alliance) in an interview with Bulatlat. "It is indeed unjust and
disadvantageous to the residents."
She added: "It is correct to pursue
the expropriation case and to rebuke Maliksi's unjust actions."
Plunder
Meanwhile, the embattled governor is
also facing a plunder case filed by militant organizations in the
province.
Violation of Republic Act 7080 or
Plunder Law is classified as a heinous crime and refers to acts committed
by public officials who amassed ill-gotten wealth.
The Maliksi plunder case stems from a
memorandum by the Commission on Audit (COA) dated Feb. 20, 2003
enumerating several alleged “shady deals” being linked to the governor
including unauthorized time deposits, confidential and intelligence
expenses, irregular purchases of medicines, books and rice, among others.
The COA document was signed by
Provincial State Auditor Cynthia Vergara.
A review of the post-audit of accounts
and financial statements of the Office of the Provincial Governor (OPG)
for 2002 showed glaring discrepancies and disbursement of several millions
of pesos not authorized by any provincial council resolutions.
Believing that the deals appear
“fishy” and that certain persons need to be held accountable, Kalipunan ng
Damayang Mahihirap-Cavite (Kadamay) chairperson Eric Abebuag, Anak
Bayan-Cavite secretary general Darwin Mariano and Kalipunan ng Magsasaka
sa Naic (Farmer's Federation in Naic town) coordinator Alfredo Catoto
formally charged the governor with plunder before the Office of the
Ombudsman last May. A hearing is scheduled this month.
"We believe that the Plunder Act was
violated...for herein the staggering amount of P2.3 billion remains
unexplained up to this time," the three leaders stated in their complaint
letter.
Peasants deprived
The complainants are also citing the
purchase of 23,245 sacks of rice amounting to a total of P23 million.
According to them, these were all bought from the private firm Capitol
City Marketing, without the required public bidding and not through the
National Food Authority (NFA).
According to Catoto, one of the
complainants, the funds should have been used instead to buy from the
farmers' harvests or to subsidize food production. He argued that rice
farming has become a losing venture for many farmers who only get as low
as P4 to P8 per kilo of palay (unmilled rice).
In his counter-affidavit, Governor
Maliksi called the plunder charge as a "plain and simple speculation." He
asked the Ombudsman to dismiss the complaint against him.
"We expect that kind of response from
the governor who has the power to hire good lawyers," Catoto said. "But
the question is: where did the rice go? And if the government can allocate
funds to purchase tons of rice, why didn't they directly buy from us
palay farmers at a reasonable price?"
Bulatlat
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