Sogod mayor calls VM “liar”

CEBU, Philippines - Sogod Mayor Lissa Marie “Moonyeen” Durano yesterday called Vice Mayor Nicasio Bacayo a “big liar” and accused him of wasting the taxpayers’ money in the town while collecting his salary but not doing his job as vice mayor.

Durano issued a statement to The FREEMAN in reaction to Bacayo’s statement published last Sunday stating that she did not implement projects from suspended Governor Gwen Garcia.

“Mao nga wala siya masayod sa dagan diha sa atong lungsod ug diha sa munisipyo gumikan kay sige man na siya ug absent, dili mutunga sa sesyon unya sige ug dawat sa iyang suweldo, (He does not know the update in our town because he is always absent. He never attends sessions and keeps on accepting his salary.)” said Mayor Durano.

 Bacayo questioned why some of the projects were not delivered directly to the people, including the “Bugasan sa Kababayen-an” program and the completion of the municipal hall. Bacayo said the completion was given funding but has not been completed yet up to this time.

But Mayor Durano called Bacayo a liar citing that the Bugasan sa Kababayen-an program he is questioning was implemented by the women’s association in the different barangays in Sogod and is a big success.

Diana Rivera, president of the Women’s Federation in Sogod, told The Freeman that the implementation of the program was very successful. She said it was implemented last year by the provincial government.

Under the program, Rivera said the women’s association in every barangay complied with the requirements set by the province and the National Food Authority.

She said the provincial government procures the rice from NFA and it is distributed to the different barangays to start the program.

The municipal government assisted the completion of the necessary requirements including the weighing scales and boxes for each barangay.

Mayor Durano said she cannot remember that Governor Garcia allocated funds for the municipal hall improvements during her term as mayor and said all her projects, which were funded by the provincial government, were properly implemented .

“Grabe man kayo ka istrikto ang Capitol kon dili ka ka liquidate dili naka madawat sa dugang financial assistance, (The provincial government is very strict. If you cannot liquidate, you cannot receive additional financial assistance,)” the mayor explained.

She said former senator Juan Miguel Zubiri allocated P500 thousand for the social hall and the completion of the municipal hall building was made possible with the support of Congressman Ramon “Red” Durano VI using the P500 thousand prize from Red Durano Cup and another P500 thousand prize from Red Bazaar.

Durano said the municipal government allocated more than P100 thousand as its counterpart.

The mayor said Vice Mayor Bacayo collected his monthly salary amounting to P52, 278 per month including other privileges but presented a record from Sangguniang Bayan which shows Bacayo’s absences.

The said record shows that there is one month where Bacayo was absent in three sessions and was present in only one session.

“Human niya ug absent sagunson katulo, mutunga dayon siya aron dili masango sa DILG, (After three consecutive absences, he then shows up so that he will not be sanctioned by DILG.)” said Mayor Durano.  (FREEMAN)