Aquino, Arroyo allies blame each other on charter veto

BAGUIO CITY, Philippines --  Allies of Pres. Benigno Aquino III and former Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo here blamed each other for the Baguio charter amendment vetoed by the president.

“If someone is to be blamed,  it should be them (Arroyo allies),”  said former city councilor Jose Mencio Molintas, a UN Expert on Indigenous Peoples Mechanisms and an Aquino ally, adding that the proposal to change the century old city charter lacked genuine consultation and had been watered down when it reached the bicameral committee of Congress.

Molintas who congratulated Aquino for turning down the measure which was described as bereft of depth of a charter because it only listed down schedules of payment for public lands into alienable properties and “not policy directions for the next 100 years for Baguio”,  said he, other members of the Liberal Party in the city as well as other non-political sectors are ready to seek the measure's nullification before the Supreme Court.

Aquino returned the measure  to Congress without his signature, saying that the objectives of the bill relating to local governmental powers are already covered by the Local Government Code of 1991.

In the veto, the president said the measure "impinges on the Department of Environment and Natural Resources’ exclusive mandate over control and supervision of alienable and disposable public lands and runs counter to the laws governing the disposition of townsite reservations.”

Aquino also said section 35 of the proposed charter is “ambiguous as to the entity that may dispose of alienable and disposable lands which are part of the townsite reservation.”

The president said that when the provision governing the disposition of such lands is unclear as to who initiates the selling, the measure may be interpreted as empowering the local government of Baguio City to dispose of alienable and disposable lands.

Rep. Bernardo Vergara, who refiled the bill in 2010, laments that the measure's veto might  also be a signal that the autonomy proposal for the Cordillera may also suffer the same fate, saying that  "those who misled the President into interpreting certain provisions of the measure will surely oppose it again."

Aquino has kept mum on his opinion about Cordillera autonomy.

Vergara and Mayor Mauricio Domogan, who first filed the bill, said they are willing to file the bill again in the House of Representatives.

LP Baguio chief Marquez Go, who is running against Vergara,  meanwhile said they also support the  charter amendments, but it should be "genuinely consultative and must represent the sentiment of the people".

Molintas said Baguio, which is experiencing rapid population growth in a limited land area, should develop mass housing for its growing population. 

“Stop selling lands,”  Molintas said, adding that Baguio's urban decay is caused by the wanton sale of pieces of lots, without the benefit of a  strategic development planning. - Artemio A. Dumlao