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January 27, 2005, The Philippine Star, Lapids Willing to Have Their Assets & Liabilities Scrutinized, by Ding Cervantes,

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January 27, 2005, The Philippine Star, Lapids Willing to Have Their Assets & Liabilities Scrutinized, by Ding Cervantes

 

CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, PAMPANGA, (STAR)  — Sen. Lito Lapid and his son, Gov. Mark Lapid, along with their close associates involved in the controversial lahar sand quarrying operations in this province, are willing to have their statements of assets and liabilities (SALs) scrutinized amid calls for an inquiry into alleged quarrying anomalies "in the magnitude of plunder."

 

"Statements of assets and liabilities are open books. They come in three copies and can be found in the Office of the Ombudsman and in our respective offices, and we also have our personal copies which anyone can scrutinize," said Benjie Galang, the senator’s chief of staff.

 

Earlier, Vice Gov. Joseller Guiao said anomalies in quarrying operations under the provincial government could be "in the magnitude of plunder."

 

Galang once chaired the quarrying task force of the provincial government when the elder Lapid was Pampanga governor.

 

In a radio interview yesterday, Galang and provincial administrator Fidel Arcenas, also known to be a close adviser of the Lapids, aired their side in the brewing controversy over the proposal of the government-owned National Resources Development Corp. (NRDC) to take over lahar sand quarrying operations in this province.

 

The NRDC said the provincial government earned only P10.5 million from quarrying last year, and that it can generate at least P100 million a year and remit some P36 million annually to the provincial government.

 

The provincial board shelved the NRDC proposal last Monday amid proposals to study it further. Seven of the 10 provincial board members voted against a resolution authorizing Gov. Lapid to enter into a memorandum of agreement with the NRDC.

 

Gov. Lapid, who returned from the United States last Jan. 24, said he has no personal conflict with Guiao. "He just might have been misquoted," he said.

 

Bankrupt corporation?

 

Galang questioned the NRDC’s proposal, saying that no less than its chairman, Victor Corpus, admitted before the Senate and the provincial board that his agency was bankrupt.

 

"Why should we entrust quarrying to a bankrupt corporation?" he asked.

 

He said that when the NRDC took control of quarrying operations in Pampanga for three years during the term of former President Estrada, it remitted only P29 million to the provincial government.

 

He said the NRDC still owed the provincial government some P100 million in quarrying earnings.

 

When control of quarrying operations was returned to the provincial government, Galang said earnings from fees reached about P45 million in three years.

 

Galang recalled that the courts twice decided in favor of the provincial government when the NRDC’s authority to have control of quarrying operations and collect fees was questioned.

 

Galang cited Section 1328 of the Local Government Code which, he insisted, provides local governments the "sole authority to collect taxes" from local mining activities.

 

"But (Guiao) wants to disregard this," he said.

 

During the Estrada administration, Galang said the NRDC kept data on its earnings from quarrying from him.

 

"They (NRDC officials) hid the figures because I was investigating the agency. Now, they are using the data to justify their takeover," he said.

 

Galang said he has asked the provincial attorney to file a case against the NRDC to demand remittance of the P100 million it still owed the provincial government.

 

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