JEUTENG RAPS BY GOVERNOR STIRRED UP ISABELA MAYORS
ALICIA, ISABELA, May 16, 2005 (STAR) By Charlie Lagasca — "Indiscretion."That was how Isabela mayors described Gov. Grace Padaca’s accusations that some of them have been "uncooperative" in her fight against jueteng and even receiving payola from gambling lords.
"With her latest indiscreet verbal attack against the mayors, expect the league to respond discreetly," said Alicia Mayor Napoleon Dy, president of the provincial chapter of the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP).
Padaca’s accusations further aggravated the gap between her and the mayors of Isabela’s 35 towns and one city (Cauayan), said Dy, younger brother of former governor Faustino Dy Jr. whom Padaca trounced in last year’s elections.
Padaca lamented that her anti-jueteng campaign has been stalled by "uncooperative" mayors, some of whom, along with local police officers, have been on the take, although she did not name names.
Claiming that jueteng is entrenched in almost all of Isabela’s municipalities, Padaca sought the help of the Catholic Church and the Philippine National Police in a dialogue attended by Interior and Local Government Secretary Angelo Reyes and PNP chief Director General Arturo Lomibao last Friday.
Mayor Dy, brother of Isabela third district Rep. Faustino Dy III, said mayors have reacted "violently" to Padaca’s accusations.
One of the mayors, who refused to be identified, said Padaca has been riding on the jueteng issue as a smoke screen for the various issues confronting her "weak" administration and the alarming insurgency problem in the province.
"There are more pressing problems that (she) must confront," said Dy, adding though that the mayors are ready to cooperate with her administration.
"We are ready to help out. Our mayors’ only wish is that the provincial government will continue the programs beneficial to the people of Isabela, and not engage in pure talk," added Dy in Tagalog.
Dy, LMP executive vice president, said the mayors will surely make a move against the seeming black propaganda against them, including the possible filing of a libel complaint against Padaca.
Ilagan Mayor Delfinito Albano, for his part, was reportedly hurt by Padaca’s singling out of his municipality, along with Alicia and Cauayan, hometown of the Dys, where she said the police should focus their anti-jueteng drive.
"Nasaktan talaga si mayor sa sinabi ni Governor (Padaca’s statement really hurt the mayor)," said one of the close aides of Albano, younger brother of Energy Regulatory Commission chairman Rodolfo Albano Jr.
The elder Albano, a long-time representative of Isabela’s first congressional district, has been touted as Padaca’s likely rival should the recall election against her push through.
Meanwhile, Senior Superintendent Napoleon Estilles, outgoing provincial police director, belied Padaca’s claim that jueteng is well-entrenched in nearly all of the province’s 35 towns and one city.
Estilles said Padaca might have been fed with wrong data because there have been "zero" jueteng operations in the towns of Palanan, Maconacon, Divilacan, Dinapigue, Santo Tomas, San Pablo and Delfin Albano.
He said jueteng operations in the province have been crippled by 85 percent in the past three weeks after a series of raids on suspected jueteng dens.
Reported by: Sol Jose Vanzi
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