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 january5Mayor sees bigger incomewith new city revenue code
BY CHRYSEE SAMILLANO
The amendment of the Revenue Code of Bacolod City is a significant factor that will helpincrease the budget of the city, Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia yesterday said.
The Bacolod Sangguniang Panlungsod approved last month an ordinancerevising the Local Revenue Code of Bacolod City.Leonardia said this is long overdue as this is the first time in 15 years thatBacolod City has revised its local revenue code.He said that if they had followed the normal process, they could have increasedthe income of the city by three times.“If you talk of 15 years, at the rate things have grown and the prices have risen,the increase of 10 percent, divided by 15 years, is not even one percent per year,” he added.Leonardia said he believes that the revision of the Local Revenue Code was theproper thing to do. Besides the city is growing and it needs more revenues tobetter serve its people, he said.Councilor Al Victor Espino, chairman of the Committee on Finance andAppropriations, said the revision of the Local Revenue Code will mean anincrease of about P40 million a year for the city.Meanwhile, Leonardia thanked Vice Mayor Jude Thaddeus Sayson and the SPfor approving the new budget.The SP approved the 2009 annual budget of Bacolod City during their firstregular session at the Bacolod City Government Center last Dec. 22, 2008.The budget was passed subject to certain conditions and shows an increase of 10 percent over last year’s.Leonardia said this is very encouraging because there were local governmentunits before that, upon reaching P1 billion, were not able to sustain their budgetthe following year.He said “Our budget shows that our city is healthy, vibrant and progressive.”Leonardia said he had read in the newspapers that the budget of Bacolod City isexactly the same as the budget of the province of Iloilo, which shows that thestatus of Bacolod is similar to that of a province.Iloilo is also one of the premier provinces in the Philippines, Leonardia said. “Sothat proves that Bacolod, indeed, is developing and progressing at a very fastrate,” he said.
 
Leonardia also said that, before, the budget of the city lagged behind those of other LGU’s. “But now Bacolod is among the leaders, not only in the region but, Ibelieve, in the whole Philippines,” he added.*CGS
CARP no longer legal: Kako
BY CARLA GOMEZ
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law expired on Dec. 31 so there can be nolegal movement of the CARP, Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District)said yesterday.That is because the president has not signed the joint resolution passed by theSenate and House extending the program for six months, minus the compulsoryacquisition of land, he said.Implementation of CARP from here on will only have a legal effect if thepresident signs the joint resolution, or when it lapses into force of law on Jan. 22,he said.Malacañang has said that the President would let the joint resolution lapse intolaw, which takes place 30 days after the Office of the President receives themeasure."Even if the President allows the joint resolution to lapse into law by January 22,or 30 days after the enrolled copy of the joint resolution was officially received bythe Office of the President on Dec. 23, 2008, there is no more LAD (landacquisition and distribution) to extend because it has already expired earlier.Once the deadline sought to be extended has expired, no belated extensioncould be effected," Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman said in a statement.Lagman urged the House of Representatives to convert his pending CARPextension bill into one reviving the program's land acquisition and distributioncomponent, including compulsory acquisition. His bill had sought to extendCARP for five years and provide it with a P100-billion budget.Anakpawis party-list Representative Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano in a statementhe issued yesterday said that House Bill 4077 cannot be converted into a landacquisition and distribution revival measure and resurrect the dead CARP.“House Bill 4077 cannot resurrect the bogus CARP from the dead. It is longoverdue to send this bill to the legislative archives,” Mariano said.”“The sham CARP already expired. They should file a new agrarian reform bill, letit go through the legislative process, and not simply convert HB 4077 into asubstitute bill,” Mariano said.Mariano appealed to Lagman and the House leadership to discuss House Bill3059, a new and Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill pending before the House and
 
“make it a priority legislative measure to enact a new, genuine, thoroughgoingand redistributive land reform program.”The GARB aims to cover all agricultural lands, without exemption and exclusion,and the free distribution of lands to farmers as its central goal. Within five yearsfrom the effectivity of the measure, the Department of Agrarian Reform ismandated to complete distributing land to beneficiaries, he said.*CPG
Truce ends, more troops sought
BY GILBERT BAYORAN
Brig. Gen. Josue Gaverza, 303rd Infantry Brigade commander, yesterday pushedfor infusion of troops and Special Operations Team operators in some areas of northern Negros, as the holiday truce being observed by government forces andthe New People’s Army ended Jan. 1.Gaverza said he expects to confer soon with his field commanders, review their anti-insurgency campaign plan for 2009, and make necessary adjustments, tomeet the deadline set for them by the Philippine Army headquarters.Gaverza said there may be some re-alignment of forces in Negros, following theredeployment of 15th Infantry Battalion to Mindanao. He, however, said this is nota reaction to claims of priest-turned-rebel Frank Fernandez that the military isnow panicking because of the tactical offensives the New People’s Armylaunched last year.“Our troops in northern Negros, which is the bread basket of Negros Occidental,should be there not just to contain the problem, but to go on other missions,” headded.Gaverza said the so-called tactical offensives launched by the NPA, including theassassination of barangay officials and civilians, bombing of telecommunicationfacilities, burning of sugarcane fields and destruction of farm equipment, amongothers, were more of a “perception” to show they are still alive and to bereckoned with.The regional party of the Communist Party of the Philippines claimed they havealready organized several guerilla platoons in Negros island, now backed up by abattalion of local militias, and have successfully managed to expand their basesand zones of operations.Fernandez further claimed the NPA was able to launch 13 attacks since October last year, including the raid of La Libertad Police Station in Negros Oriental andthe ambush of 6th Regional Mobile Group troopers in Victorias City.Military records also show that NPA rebels also harassed a detachment inCalinog, Iloilo, on Dec. 26, which was the 40th founding anniversary of the CPP.Gaverza said he likened the claims of tactical offensives of the NPA last year, to“terroristic activities”, with ordinary civilians suffering their brunt.
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