Behind the Scenes
ALFRED P. DIZON
BONTOC, Mountain Province – The provincial government is set to receive a
total of P2656.5 million as loan from the Land Bank of the Philippines despite
controversies on the issue. Victoria
M. Zambrano, LDP department manager of La Union Ilocos Lending Center furnished
the Northern Philippine times a copy of its letter to Mountain Province
provincial board member Francisco B. Balisong who earlier questioned release of
the funds and projects wherein the money would be used.
Hereunder is the
unedited letter:
Sir:
This refers to your letter dated August 25, 2012 and April 17, 2012 and
received by this Office on November 6, 2012 and May 7, 2012, respectively, and
both addressed to our LBP President requesting that release of funds for the
P37.500 M loan intended for the road improvements within the Municipality of
Besao,Mountain Province be held in abeyance.
At the onset, we wish to inform you that Land Bank acted on the request
of the Provincial Government of mountain province to obtain a Term Loan
amounting to P37.5 M to finance the Tagungtungao-Besao Farm to Market Road by
virtue of the SangguniangPanlalawigan Resolution No. 2011-105 which was
approved on May 2, 2011 and attested to by all the members of the SP.
The said Resolution clearly speaks of the Farm to Market Road as a
priority project of the LGU and for which reason the loan application has
undergone the usual credit review, evaluation and approval process vis-à-vis
the credit parameters of the Bank. It was approved in accordance with the
policy of the Bank and subsequently a Loan Agreement was entered into between
the LGU and LBP.
To hold the release of the unavailed portion of the approved loan even
without the request of the LGU may not be proper at this point for it may
jeopardize the delivery of services to the intended beneficiaries if project
financing is to be withheld.
To our opinion, the withdrawal of your signature in the SP Resolution is
a matter that should be resolved before the Sangguniang Panlalawigan because as
far as the Bank is concerned, the same cannot be used to prelude us from
complying to its obligations under the agreement.
LBP approved the loan of P37.5 Million with an agreement with the LGU of
the following terms and conditions:
The initial release of P5.625 M is subject to LGU’s compliance to the
pre-release and documentary requirements. Succeeding releases shall be based on
progress billings as certified by the Project/Provincial Engineer as approved
by the Local Chief Executive and validated by LBP Appraiser. Final release shall
be upo9n 100% project completion.
The LGU was required an equity or counterpart contribution to the
project. This means that the LGU may already infuse its equity contribution
even prior to the initial release of the loan.
While initially the project was proposed and approved in February 2011
to have equity contribution from CHARM, the amendment calling for the
non-inclusion of the said counterpart was approved i8n November 2011 with a
justification that the process of securing the documentary requirements from DA
RFU-CAR/International Fund for Agricultural Development will delay the prompt
submission of the documentary requirements for the approved loan.
With regard to the proposed P228 Million loan which you stated to have
been covered by the Resolution No. 2011-245 dated 19 September 2011, the same
resolution was certified as true and correct and attested to by all the SP
members that the projects so identified
are priority projects of the LGU.
Like the P37.5 Million Loan, the said application for the projects has
been subjected to the usual credit evaluation and approval process. With regard
to your request to hold the release of the loan and the withdrawal of your
signature to the Resolution, our position as stated in the forgoing will apply
to these concerns.
Thank you and we hope we have addressed your concerns.
Very Truly yours,
Victoria M. Zambrano
Department Manager
***
Gov. Leonard Mayaenearlier said the P228 million loan from the Land Bank
of the Philippines mostly allotted for road construction should begin Jan. 2013
after bidding.
Mayaen told NPT writer Gina Dizon in an interview that P168 million of
the P228 million loan has already been approved by Land Bank pending
requirements from specific road projects to be submitted for approval of the
remaining amount of the loan.
The LGU of Mountain Province entered into a loan agreement with Land
Bank September 2011 through a memorandum of an agreement endorsed by the
SangguniangPanlalawigan allowing Mayaen to enter into a loan agreement with the
Land-Bank in the amount of P228 million.
Bulk of the 228 million peso loan was meant for upgrading the province’s
road systems linking adjacent provinces and within municipality routes.
Mayaen said P20 million from the P228 million loans is allotted per
municipality for the improvement of respective provincial roads. Mountain
province has an estimated 500 kilometers of provincial roads with the same span
of national road networks found in Barlig, Sagada, Sabangan, Bontoc, and Bauko.
Concreting and rehabilitation of slope protection walls and drainage
systems in the Province’s road networks are meant for construction to be done
in provincial roads, he said.
Mountain province’s erosion-prone slopes and rugged systems, he added, hampered
smooth and safe transportation. Mountain Province is linked to bustling market
outlets in Santiago, Isabela on the east, Ilocos Sur westward and south towards
Benguet and Baguio City.
Release of the loaned amount would be done per project accomplishment after
validation from the Provincial Engineering Office and engineers of the Land
Bank, Mayaen said.
The rest of the loan amount is projected to be used for the improvement
of the provincial gymnasium, Capitol building and the Bontoc General Hospital.
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