So, whats the truth about NFEX Balagtas...? from TEMPO News in a Flash Firing Line » Poison pen letter Posted by Online on Feb 27th, 2014 LAST week, I received a letter from an anonymous writer. Columnists normally welcome information, sometimes even from unnamed writers or callers. But there is a bound which responsible journalists have drawn for themselves as an unwritten law — and that is drawing the line between legitimate grievance or complaint or constructive criticism and pure and simple black propaganda, or poison pen letters which are malicious, evil, and destructive. The letter I received belongs to the latter category. It narrates so many dirty things against Bulacan Governor Wilhelmino Sy-Alvarado. But it seems the demolition job being waged against him by his political opponents have exploded right on their faces. A week after a certain Antonio Manganti from Barangay Camachile, Doña Remedios Trinidad town, filed plunder charges against Sy-Alvarado and six top Capitol officials, it now becomes clear that these issues which began circulating as a “white paper” rings of black propaganda. Manganti, Firing Line spies reveal, is a former New People’s Army (NPA) member who had earlier surrendered to the government and then worked as Security Agent II at the Capitol during the term of former Gov. Joselito Mendoza. Political pundits tell us this tirade against the incumbent governor is part of a grand scheme to cover an alleged anomalous transaction connected with the North Food Exchange (NFEx) that was hatched and implemented during the term of former governor now Postmaster General Josie dela Cruz and was continued during the term of her successor and brother Joselito or “Jon-Jon”, now a congressman in the province’s 3rd congressional district. NFEx is a special economic zone in Balagtas town intended to become the distribution hub of Northern Luzon. It is meant to encourage the establishment of agricultural trading centers that will cut off middleman transactions and opportunities for corruption while improving the economic conditions of farmers and fisher folk and making basic food affordable to the public. Anyway, the charges, so it becomes apparent, are part of a “recall” scheme being plotted against Sy-Alvarado. But that’s another story. It’s bound to misfire, anyway, since the Comelec’s Preparatory Recall Committee will have a difficult time verifying the percentage of votes needed for the recall aside from the process being costly, an election lawyer-friend tells me. And let’s not forget that the incumbent ran unopposed in the last elections. How on earth do you remove someone like that? * * * A political analyst I had coffee with says the two former governors have a lot of explaining to do to the people of Bulacan when it comes to the NFEx project and Sy-Alvarado might likely be their patsy. The NFEx was implemented after the provincial government during the time of Gov. Josie registered the NFEx. The provincial government has the commanding share of 50 percent and the other 50 percent is divided among private sector-partners and non-government organizations. And because the provincial government owns the majority of shares, the governor of the province will be the chairman. During the administration of ex-Gov. Josie, she, as top provincial executive, was the chairperson. When her brother Joselito became the governor, his sister Josie still sat as chairperson. It was also learned that a week before Sy-Alvarado took his oath as Bulacan governor, the former provincial administrator who served Gov. Jon-jon waived the controlling shares of the provincial government and allowed the capital shares of ex-Gov. Josie to increase, making her the major stockholder of NFEx. The move was apparently done without authorization from the Sangguniang Panglalawigan or Provincial Council. This triggered the shares of ex-Gov. Josie to reportedly skyrocket to a whopping 90 percent while the share of the provincial government was reduced to a measly 10 percent. If this is true, it becomes very clear that the family of the former governors now owns majority of the shares when it should be the provincial government who should have the controlling stocks. Many will beg to ask who’s really clean and who’s not? I think the smear campaign on Gov. Sy-Alvarado is plain black on white.
Posted on: Mon, 13 Oct 2014 04:03:22 +0000
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