Bataan barangay chief gives special gift to GMA

BALANGA CITY, Bataan – A barangay chairman of an upland village of Roosevelt, Dinalupihan town, this province, has withdrawn his opposition to the installation of power lines to Tipo toll plaza off the Subic-Clark-Tarlac Expressway as his “birthday gift to President Arroyo on April 5” which coincides with the opening of the megaprojects intended to transform Central and Northern Luzon into a super region.

Ruben Diaz, Bataan provincial director of the Department of Interior and Local Government, told The STAR that Barangay chairman Ricardo de Ausen has agreed to allow the Peninsula Electric Cooperative (PENELCO), a local power distributor, to put up electric posts for the installation of power lines to Tipo toll plaza for the inauguration of the 93.77-km. expressway on April 5.

Diaz said the barangay chairman is pressing for the construction of overpass for the convenience of his constituents and “if not built immediately, small farmers and lowly vegetable traders have to cross a long and circuitous road.”

According to Diaz, Isaac Puno, executive vice president and SCTEx program director, wrote the DILG secretary on March 6 informing him about the alleged grave abuse of authority being practiced upon the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) by De Ausen.          – Raffy Viray