Banias left Concepcion LGU in heavy debts - Villanueva by Manuel Boy Mejorada

The municipality of Concepcion, Iloilo was in financial disarray and heavily indebted to the tune of P19 million when incumbent municipal mayor Milliard Villanueva assumed office on June 30, 2010, with more than P5.2 million in its cash in bank that could not be accounted for. This was the first major challenge that Villanueva, a first-term local chief executive, met when he took over the LGU and discovered that the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) had suspended the benefits and privileges of its rank and file personnel because it incurred eight months in arrearages on monthly remittances. The municipality had only P73,000 in the bank, Villanueva said as he narrated his horror at stumbling upon the fiscal mismanagement of his predecessors that extended all the way to former mayor, now Iloilo provincial administrator, Dr. Raul Banias. Villanueva said he quickly adopted belt-tightening measures to raise extra funds to pay off the arrearages to GSIS. In less than a year, he was able to restore its accounts to up-to-date status and enable municipal employees to obtain salary loans once more, he said. I have no idea where the money for GSIS went, Villanueva, who was guest during the Kapehan sa Bali yesterday, said. The members premium payment shares were deducted automatically at the end of every month, but somehow the money went somewhere else. Banias, a doctor of medicine, was municipal mayor of Concepcion during the years 1998 to 2007. He also served as Presidential Assistant for Western Visayas during the period 2007 to 2010. Villanueva defeated then incumbent mayor Elizabeth Betchie Salcedo, a known ally of Banias, in the May 14, 2010 elections. Salcedo was mayor in 2007-2010 and vice mayor of the municipality under Banias. In fairness to Mayor Salcedo, she was able to reduce the arrearages with GSIS to just five months of unremitted premium contributions, he said. The LGU also had to pay GSIS P4.6 million in penalty interest on the arrearages, he added. That money could have gone to projects and services, he said. Villanueva said his lawyers are evaluating the audit reports that show the financial mess during the incumbency of Banias for the possible filing of an anti-graft complaint before the Ombudsman.

Villanueva also insinuated that Banias exerted his influence to get the Sangguniang Panlalawigan to block the implementation of a municipal ordinance regulating the harvesting and sale of nylon shells from its municipal waters last year. Its surprising because it was he in the first place who started to harvest the nylon shells in our municipal waters, Villanueva lamented. He added that the area which Banias doesnt want any harvesting to be done is the same place where he began extracting the nylon shells. Villanueva said that the municipal ordinance was enacted to regulate the harvesting of the nylon shell to prevent over-extraction. Moreover, the ordinance provided for a share of the revenues from the sale of the nylon shells, he said. On the average, the daily harvest of nylon shell is 4 tons, and with P3.00 per kilo going to the LGU, we could easily earn P12,000 each day just from this resource, he said. The issue on the validity of the ordinance is pending before the Regional Trial Court branch 66 after one of the fishermen who obtained a permit to harvest nylon shells questioned the move of the provincial government to stop its implementation. Villanueva said that during a brief period in which the LGU was able to implement the ordinance, it managed to earn P300,000 despite the slowdown in harvesting. Clearly, we have a revenue source that could help us deliver more projects and programs, he said. Asked if he was ready for a showdown with Banias for the mayorship next year, Villanueva said the prospect of facing the provincial administrator does not bother him at all, as this will give our constituents an opportunity to pick the leader they want.