SP Directs Aguilar To Conduct Probe On Napantao Dive Resort Proposed MOA
By Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.
Maasin City, Southern Leyte- The Sangguniang Panlalawigan has instructed the Provincial Legal Officer Atty. Tobias Aguilar to conduct a thorough investigation to verify the truth of some reliable reports pertinent to the existing renewed MOA of the Napantao residential building of the Napantao Dive Resort in San Francisco,Panaon Island that is presently rented by the provincial government and occupied by the volunteer-members of the Coral Cay Conservation of the United Kingdom.
SP Teopisto Rojas,Jr. disclosed that Governor Damian Mercado has received reports from some residents of Napantao that member-volunteers of the Coral Cay Conservation were receiving payment from the members of the royal blood and the sons and daughter of ambassadors who have undertook diving lessons.
Rojas asked his colleagues during their recent weekly session held at the provincial capitol if CCC has extended financial assistance in the form of grant or soft loan for the protection and preservation of marine life in the aforesaid area similar to what the GTZ (now GIZ) was doing in the province.“Even if the payment is minimal,” he said,” but if converted to euro into peso then it will be significant amount”.
He also divulged that because of the Napantao residential building the province has spent millions of pesos for the opening of the road towards the residential house including power facilities with only one house benefitting from it.”Yet the millions of pesos spent by the province are not deductible to the rentals of the residential house”, he said.
Rojas said he believed that the P12,.000.00 monthly rate, which he described as unreasonable and exorbitant, is not the prevailing rate of residential houses in the municipality of San Francisco.
On the other hand,SP Daisy Gumale defended the CCC members saying there was only one instance that the Coral Cay Conservation received a foreign visitor, the son of the Ambassador, who called the Governor and informed him that is son is in Napantao Dive Resort. Another one, she said, was when Robert Chapman gave a courtesy call at the provincial capitol.
Gumale said that the occasion has prompted them to build the bridges and cemented the roads leading to the dive site to attract tourists to Napantao Dive Resort, considered by experienced scuba drivers as one of the beautiful dive sites of the world.
If you have been there before, she said, you find it hard and in my young age I have to walk 30 minutes going down Napantao.But now you can we can park our cars right at the house of the owner.
“I want to make it on record that it was not the CCC that made the deal between the province and the owner of the house”, she elaborated.”Which regards to the rental, I think we are solely responsible and Coray Cay has nothing to do with how much we are paying”. She continued “My contention is, it is always the intention of the province for the advantage of our marine environment and for so long the CCC is doing their part. They have been submitting reports and they have been helping our PENRMO and CENRO in the establishment of MPAs.And because of their help our LGUs are receiving rewards on MPAs.So I don’t think that it is very disadvantageous for the province to have the Coral Cay. So if the rate found to be expensive we have the power to change and revised the deal and the CCC has nothing to do with the agreement between the owner and the province.”
Despite Gumale’s argument however, Rojas has further stressed that the Legal Officer must move on to fulfill his task of conducting an investigation of questionable things like:1) Whether or not the MOA or lease contract is disadvantageous to the province for spending millions of pesos in the construction of roads and electric facilities for the residential building at the dive site; 2)Whether or not the monthly rental of the said residential house is the prevailing rate of houses of that particular mujnicipality;3) Whether or not the CCC has generated income from the Napantao Dive Resort by accepting fees for diving lessons from the members of the royal blood and sons/daughters of ambassador and other officials from UK;4)Whether or not the approval of MOA for the lease contract by the SP will tantamount to violation of Section 3,paragrahph (g) of RA3019 otherwise known as Anti Graft and Corrupt Practices(Quirico M. Gorpido,Jr.).
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