Padaca assails Dys over closure of Isabela radio station

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya — Former Bombo Radyo station manager and winning Isabela gubernatorial bet Grace Padaca has assailed the family of Gov. Faustino Dy Jr. for the recent closure of the Cauayan City-based radio station.

Padaca, who trounced Dy by a wide margin in both the National Citizens Movement for Free Elections (Namfrel) count and the provincial canvassing, said the Dys have something to do with the radio station’s closure.

The Bombo Radyo-dzNC Cauayan, Padaca’s home for more than 14 years first as broadcaster and later as station manager, was shut down for the third time last Wednesday.

Padaca, a magna cum laude graduate of the Lyceum University, left the station in 2000. She went into politics the following year and faced then outgoing Cauayan City mayor Faustino "Bogie" Dy III for the province’s third congressional district.

Padaca claimed she was cheated of victory and went on to file an election protest with the House of Representatives Electoral Tribunal. The case is pending until now.

"I guess it is too much to expect from the Dys to allow Bombo Radyo to stay on the air despite the end of the election period," she said.

The Commission on Elections (Comelec) has ordered Padaca’s proclamation as Isabela governor-elect in Manila, possibly this week, following more than two weeks of standoff after Gov. Dy sought her disqualification on the ground that she allegedly connived with communist rebels to terrorize voters.

The 40-year-old Padaca said it should have been a great opportunity for the Dys to redeem themselves from political embarrassment by allowing Bombo Radyo dzNC to operate without political disruptions.

Last Thursday, the Cauayan City government, led by Mayor Caesar Dy, the governor’s half-brother, shut down Bombo Radyo for the third time for having no mayor’s permit.

Mayor Dy said the radio station’s closure had nothing to do with politics.

He said the radio station had been operating without a mayor’s permit and a license to operate, thus prompting the city government to shut it down.

"We have to implement the law. We have to respect the right of the city government to implement and regulate business establishments operating within its territory," he said.

Dy added that Bombo Radyo also violated the city’s zoning ordinance by erecting its broadcast center on an agricultural land.

He gave assurance that they would immediately issue a mayor’s permit and a business license once Bombo Radyo presents a land conversion permit from the Department of Agrarian Reform, showing that the lot had been converted to commercial purposes.

However, Charmy Sabigan, Bombo Radyo dzNC manager, said they are just awaiting a court order for them to resume operations.

Earlier this year, the Cauayan City government shut down Bombo Radyo, perceived as critical of Gov. Dy’s administration, based on the same grounds.

But the Comelec brought it back on air after a number of weeks, declaring it had the power to approve, suspend or cancel television and radio franchises during the election period.

The poll body, however, affirmed the city government’s closure order on the eve of Election Day. It later flip-flopped and directed the re-opening of Bombo Radyo.

But the city government asserted its authority last Wednesday when the election period formally ended.