Tanco: No more loan for biz center
ROXAS CITY – Capiz Gov. Victor Tanco, Sr said last Friday that the province will no longer push for the construction of the controversial one-stop shop business center, rather it will obtain a loan for the concreting of provincial roads and purchase of heavy equipment.
Tanco said there is a problem on the proposed site of the business center in Brgy. Tiza as some 500 square meters of the property is owned by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Earlier, Provincial Legal Counsel Jose “Joe” Villanueva said that the proposed loan in the amount of P210 million to finance the one-stop-shop business center was not realized after the United Coconut Planter’s Bank (UCPB) turned it down since it was questioned by Board Member Gilbert Ardvilla.
Villanueva said during the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) question hour the UCPB is sensitive on the issues raised by Ardivilla that’s why the bank canceled the loan despite the proposed P210 million was already approved in favor of the provincial government.
The legal counsel also threatened to file damage suit against those people who are behind the cancellation of the loan prompting Ardivilla to dare Villanueva to do so.
Ardivilla clarified that his purpose to seek the opinion of Commission on Audit was to protect the interest of the people.
“I’m standing firm relative to my action in seeking legal opinion from a constitutional body Commission on Audit (COA) regarding the irregularities in the passage of Sangguniang Panlalawigan (SP) resolution on P210 million and its supplemental budget (appropriation ordinance) no. 6,” Ardivilla said.
Ardivilla also strongly denied that politics is behind his on opposition to the said proposed loan adding that he is only protecting the interest of the people.
According to him, the proposed business center was only worth P60 million during the stint of former Governor Vicente Bermejo (now city mayor) and he wondered why the budget reached to P210 million in the present administration.
Ardivilla said that there was no sketch plan on the proposed business center to determine its value.
Gov. Tanco said earlier that the proposed business center has increased its cost considering the continued increase in the price of labor and materials and besides it is different from the proposed building of the previous administration.
