Pet Melliza

BY PET MELLIZA/The Beekeeper Where are the private businesses supposed to occupy the first two levels of the new city hall of Iloilo? That was among the justifications proffered by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog when he revised the design that served as his excuse in adding P262 million to complete the seven-storey structure. Mabilog’s predecessor Jerry Trenas stepped down from on June 30, 2010 to sit the following day as the member of Congress representing the lone district of the city. He bequeathed on Mabilog a “complete” project,  a skeleton sans furnishings including finishing materials like tiles, electrical and plumbing systems. The original plan cost taxpayers P470 million in loan from the Land Bank. Trenas turned over the balance of  P70 million. The business sector including TNT publisher and Iloilo Press Club president, Rommel Ynion, cried in unison that the balance was sufficient to complete the city hall replete with two elevators. However, Mabilog ins

BY PET MELLIZA/The Beekeeper Where are the private businesses supposed to occupy the first two levels of the new city hall of Iloilo? That was among the justifications proffered by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog when he revised the design that served as his excuse in adding P262 million to complete the seven-storey structure. Mabilog’s predecessor Jerry Trenas stepped down from on June 30, 2010 to sit the following day as the member of Congress representing the lone district of the city. He bequeathed on Mabilog a “complete” project,  a skeleton sans furnishings including finishing materials like tiles, electrical and plumbing systems. The original plan cost taxpayers P470 million in loan from the Land Bank. Trenas turned over the balance of  P70 million. The business sector including TNT publisher and Iloilo Press Club president, Rommel Ynion, cried in unison that the balance was sufficient to complete the city hall replete with two elevators. However,

BY PET MELLIZA/The Beekeeper Where are the private businesses supposed to occupy the first two levels of the new city hall of Iloilo? That was among the justifications proffered by Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog when he revised the design that served as his excuse in adding P262 million to complete the seven-storey structure. Mabilog’s predecessor Jerry Trenas stepped down from on June 30, 2010 to sit the following day as the member of Congress representing the lone district of the city. He bequeathed on Mabilog a “complete” project,  a skeleton sans furnishings including finishing materials like tiles, electrical and plumbing systems. The original plan cost taxpayers P470 million in loan from the Land Bank. Trenas turned over the balance of  P70 million. The business sector including TNT publisher and Iloilo Press Club president, Rommel Ynion, cried in unison that the balance was sufficient to complete the city hall replete with two elevators. However,

By Pet Melliza/ The Beekeeper What would happen if the Social Security System (SSS) stopped collecting contributions from members? That’s not a problem, answers Rep. Neri Colmenares (Bayan Muna Partylist). “Even if it stops collecting, the SSS has cash on hand that can enable it to pay pensioners until the next 40 years,” he told participants in two fora here last July 7 at the Iloilo Provincial Capitol, Iloilo City. Colmenares met with SSS retirees to discuss House Bill 4365 which he co-authored with Rep. Teddy Casino, also of the same partylist. The proposed measure seeks to raise the minimum monthly pension from P1,200 to P7,000. “That’s typical of the SSS,” notes Colmenares. “When we apply for loans or increased pensions, SSS will just plead lack of funds.” The amount of P1,200 is insufficient to buy a sack of rice of 50 kilos. We were taking pictures of the gathering, at the ground lobby of the Iloilo Capitol and our attention got caught on the huge assets in

By Pet Melliza/The Beekeeper Iloilo Gov.  Arthur D. Defensor (center in light shirt) and Estancia Mayor Rene Cordero (beside the governor) unveil the monument of Scout Roy.  By now, he could have been 53 and, if he married at 20, he would have grandchildren. However, Roy B. Babas, gave up his life at a tender age because of a freak accident 41 years ago, January 24, 1971. He was 12 years old and a grade five pupil. Babas, orphaned of both parents and cared for by his paternal  lolo   eked out a living on weekends and holidays as cargador , carrying luggage of passengers of vessels docking on the wharf of Estancia, Iloilo. Bionat: When I broached the idea to the governor of erecting a monument in honor of Scout Roy, he nodded at once. Scout Roy was his buddy in the Boy Scout. He promised silently beside the latter's bier that he will work it out to have a monument built for him. Defensor: Bravery and helpfullness are among the virtues of Boy Scout

By Pet Melliza/ The Beekeeper So far, Iloilo City Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog has patched up the spat between two factions in his management team. The camp of Kgd. Joshua Alim and that of his political liaison officer, Jeffrey Celiz, have stopped hurling brickbats at each other on the airlane. The tiff unreeled earlier but it heated up anew when Alim’s I-CAST operative apprehended a 59-year old driver in Lapuz allegedly for violating the anti-smoking ordinance. I-CAST stands for “Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force, that Mabilog stacked with loyalists. Andrea Golez, a consultant of Mabilog, however, was taken aback at the highhanded manner of the I-CAST man in arresting the driver, a member of the Lapuz jeepney drivers’ alliance that she incidentally heads.  “The arrest was improper,” noted Golez. “The driver was not smoking. The stick of cigarette seen near his feet was planted.” Violations of the anti-smoking ordinance are penalized by fines only up

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER Virginia Palanca-Santiago, “assistant ombudsman” for Visayas, a non-existent position in RA 6770, must have retired by now amid charges filed by her superior Pelagio Apostol, Sr. and by Mactan Rep. Arturo Radaza. Radaza charged her for grave misconduct. She rigged a resolution holding him guilty for graft. As her good habit is, Palanca-Santiago accredited charlatans led by Radaza’s rival who faced tax evasion raps, into the “people’s graftwatch” that scored Radaza for overpriced computers. Apostol, deputy Ombudsman for  Visayas, was quoted by columnist Edgar Cadagat addressing the  Serve the People Movement in Negros Occiental  blaming Palanca-Santiago for wheeling-dealing in resolving monumental graft cases on that Island. This is the 45 th  in a series that I’ve been writing that this embalmed version of Mommy Dionisia be investigated for corruption before she retired. She rigged her decision in People’s Graftwatch of Iloilo versus

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER Where is Allan Zaldivar head of the PESO of Iloilo City?  The word stands for “public employment service office”, a program initiated by the Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) to connect employers to the labor force or, simply put, to match job seekers with their prospective employers. Ironically, the man who used to hug the front pages for organizing successful “job fairs” is now himself jobless and is now suited to be part of the faceless crowd swarming the venues for job matching. Whenever there were special events, including the Dinagyang and Paraw Regatta, the PESO of Iloilo City convenes job fairs where job hunters and employers meet. The former would fill in application forms to the latter who (or which) may be either agencies or direct employers. The agencies supply labor to their principals whether domestic or overseas. The direct employers are well, as the word suggests, are enterprises that do not rely on agencies. Alm

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER We've heard people complain about Globe Telecom 'robbing' them in broad daylight. And the company still gets away with it. We have heard of people in the past cursing the company for its alleged thievery. And we could only commiserate with them. Now, it is my term to curse it. And for good reasons. Last July 4, we loaded P300 for our Globe prepaid line. Globe acknowledged it within seconds by thanking us for reloading. The following morning, when we tried to send a text message Globe did not send it. Instead, it explained, that our load left  was only P0.80, and asked us to reload before the company deactivates the number. Accompanied by Atty. Ian Feleciano on the afternoon of July 5, we went to the Globe office in a mall on Delgado Street, Iloilo City to complain. We were told that Globe would investigate and would inform us the results of its investigation before July 9. It made good its promise—about the only good thi

BY PET MELLIZA/ THE BEEKEEPER A jeepney driver was resting behind the wheels when suddenly, a former jeepney association officer, accosted him for violating the anti-smoking ordinance. The arresting person is now one of the few hundred “job-hires” under the administration of Mayor Jed Patrick Mabilog. However, he thinks he is licensed to bully people around. To be more precise, he is one of the tough guys of the thing called I-CAST, short for Iloilo City Anti-Smoking Task Force. The driver remonstrated insisting he was not smoking at all. The I-CASTer picked up a lighted Champion stick from the ground and maintained it was the driver’s. He and fellow I-CASTers grabbed the driver by the collar and twisted the latter’s arm to exact physical submission though the latter was not resisting arrest at all.  The driver, 59, smokes another brand of cigarette, says the leader of the transport organization who also works as consultant to Mayor Mabilog. The stick of lighted