Principals of Public National High School in Dagupan attended the hearing of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to air their concern on the Maintenace and Other Operating Expenses of their school. They are requesting for assistance from the city government on how their MOOE will be increased.
As of present, the city gives the Special Education Fund coming from the Real Property Taxes of the city.

The Sanggunian Panlungsod has just received a listing of cancelled Certificates of Alienability and Disposability from OIC PENRO Officer Rogel Pimentel. It also received a listing of all Tax Declaration issued by the city Assessor's office based on the certificates of Alienability and Disposability presented by the occupants. The Sanggunian has also requested the presence of the former Tondaligan Park Administrator Juanito "Ani" Lagao to grace the Sangguniang Panlungsod session and to bring with him the documents he claims are proof that there are lands inside the Tondaligan Park that were sold for billions of pesos.

The city government has taken the positive step in applying for the questioned accreted foreshore land to be developed into a Special Economic Zone. So far more than 30 hectares have been processed upto the Regional Level of the DENR awaiting for the approval of Secretary Angelo Reyes. The application of the city is to reach more than 90 hectares basing from old and new accretions in the bonuan beach area.

Occupants are deemed illegal and shall have their Tax Declaration cancelled by the city basing from the cancelled Certificates of Alienability the PENRO has provided. As of present, the city vice mayor has requested OIC PENRO Rogel Pimentel to ensure that all certificates cancelled by CENRO are complete and shall match the Tax Declaration occupying the accreted land list submitted by the assessor's office.

In the first place, these FORESHORE lands could not be considered as Agricultural Land. These are beach front properties and are for the use of the state or the Local Government Unit who has territorial jurisdiction over them. Only Agricultural land are subject to Certificates of Alienability and Disposability.

VM Alvin was given an opportunity to be a part of the Tinday Labi stage managed by HOT FM. The night was filled with music coming from several bands. The finale was rendered by the Vice Mayor himself.

Marlene Espino was in her usual Happy Self during the opening of the CILAMAR Shop. Joining are her classmates from Dagupan City National High School batch63 who have been united through the years.

Lina Tan of Liwawa Ed Asinan Foundation, Circles for Christ, Agaguik Ya Foundation, STAC, LAYA initiated the gathering of children that needs special attention to make them feel more the spirit of Christ this season of remebering God's LOVE for US. Joining the celebration are government officials, DILG, Barangay Health Workers. The celebration is part of the City Fiesta Celebration. This year's Fiesta Chairman is Councilor Dada Reyna.

The group sang a Happy Birthday song to our beloved Mama Mary in celebration of her Birthday, Immaculate Conception.

December 7, 2006

Atty. Geraldine Ubana-Baniqued
City Legal Officer
Dagupan City

Mr. Rafael Baraan
City Administrator
Dagupan City

Dear Attorney Baniqued and Mr Rafael Baraan,

Thank you very much for the quick response regarding the clarification requested from the City Legal Officer and City Administrator as regards the BOT of the Magsaysay Park.

Just for the sake of clarification NO Public Park is subject to the sphere of Commerce, but as you have clarified to the Sanggunian during the November 21 special session, the Magsaysay Park is already used as a Commercial area therefore the city could continue to use it as how the current city officials took over it, as a commercial complex. Please correct me if I misunderstood your statement during the said session.

Thank you very much for the stating the chronology of event that transpired in the bidding out of the Magsaysay Park. Please allow me to interject some of my comments and observations in the chronology of events you have submitted.

May I be allowed to use the CHRONOLOGY of events written by the City Legal Officer and introduce some observations?

September 25, 2004 — Bugnay was gutted by FIRE
September 27, 2004— City Engineering submitted memorandum stating their findings that the structure is condemned and for demolition.
October 25, 2004— SP adopted Resolution 4678-2004, entitled Resolution Expressing the intent of Dagupan City Government to use the Bugnay Market Area as a TOURISM PARK.
November 11, 2005—Bugnay wrote letter to City Mayor stating they are pre terminating the contract and that they are turning over the premises to the city government.

January 10, 2006— Letter of the Mayor to the Sanggunian requesting that the Mayor be granted authority to enter into a Memorandum of Agreement with a reputable firm to develop said property into a tourist/commercial facility. The Sanggunian did not ACT on it since the SP sought it not wise to do so, less it be misunderstood that the SP is already giving away the Magsaysay Park to whoever the Mayor wishes to give it to and develop it through NEGOTIATION.
March 20, 2006— SP adopted Resolution 5343-2006 Declaring the City’s Strong Intent to claim the city’s RIGHTS and ownership over the Magsaysay Market (Bugnay) comes the termination of the lease agreement. Did the City Legal Officer use all its resources to claim from Bugnay?

April 3, 2006—Mayor Benjamin Lim created a Special Awards and Bids Committee (SBAC)

April 24, May1, May8, 2006— publication of invitation to pre qualification to bid at the WEEKLY GUARDIAN.

April 25, May2, May9, 2006—publication of invitation to pre qualify and BID at the Manila TIMES

April28, May3, May9, 2006—publication of invitation to pre qualify and bid at the Manila STANDARD Today

May 3, 2006— City Development Council adopted the Redevelopment of Magsaysay Park as a priority project.
May we be clarified on what the CDC approved of? Did they approve of the plan or bidding and the terms of reference or did they approve of the CONCEPT ONLY of Redeveloping the Magsaysay Park?
May we request the definition of Priority Project as the good city legal understands it? The project shall be prioritized subject to availability of fund. If there shall be no fund for it, the city government through Sanggunian’s Authorization shall look for the best alternative. If the BOT is to be recommended, it should have requested from the Sanggunian.

May 5, 2006— SP adopted Resolution 5406-2006 adopting the Magsaysay Park Development Project as a PRIORITY PROGRAM of the City Government.
The SP adopted the concept of the plan. The SP never received any actual plan. It is like saying we want to build a House as a priority. As should be the procedure if there shall be any bidding of the house to a private contractor, the SP would want to know what kind of house it shall be building that would be up for bidding If it shall be a NIPA Hut or a Mansion. The SP adopted the idea of having a Magsaysay Park Redevelopment for a TOURIST PARK as stated in SP Resolution 4678-2004. The SP always needs to authorize projects before it is to be bided out. It may be true that the city government may not spend money on this property, none the less the Sanggunian must authorize any rental fees or other fees before it is to be bided out. The Sanggunian must also ensure that the interest of the people is protected. Thank you very much for correcting the computation of the lease rental. Since only 50% will be used for construction it shall not be 75centavos per square meter per day but P1.50/squaremeter/day. None the less, the operator is occupying the entire area. The Sanggunian must also be given the due courtesy it needs in the decision making on how any project is to be implemented and the rates it shall imposed. The Sanggunian would also like to take note that as per the Policy of B.O.T it shall be the government who shall determine how much an operator is to charge its tenant. The law also states that the Return on Investment shall not exceed 12% in case of a negotiation. As per RA 7718 a bidder must also present in his proposal the RENTAL RATE, Tolls, Fees, other collections they shall be collecting to their future tenants. This way the city could see if the offer of lease rate it is to pay the city shall be fair and not in excess to what is provided by the Law.

It is however a revelation that even before the SP approved of the IDEA of Redeveloping Magsaysay Park, the City already published the invitation to pre qualify and bid starting April24. And as you have stated the Mayor created an SBAC much earlier on April 3, 2006.

Section 302 of RA 7160 known as the Local Government Code of the Philippines states that
Construction of Infrastructure Projects by Private Sector which specifies B.O.T. The city must include it in their Annual Development Plan and Public Investment Plan approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod.

For the Bidding of the Infrastructure project for BOT, the City Engineer upon formal request in writing by the Local Chief Executive (Mayor) shall prepare the Technical plans and specifications for the proposed project, which shall be SUBMITTED TO THE SANGGUNIAN for APPROVAL. The minimum requirements of the program of works shall be done by the City Engineer’s Office that shall be the basis of the Bidding. Bidders can simply follow it or improve technical requirements.

THESE are the situations wherein a proposal of a re bidding is necessary. This is to clear that everything shall be in order. There is no rush since 25years is the price to pay for such a BOT contract. A few months of delay will not be harmful to the city. The city may also include a public hearing to ensure that the people feel ownership of the project as is being preached by our City in the Public Governance System we are introducing, number one element of which, is People’s participation.

In the matter of raising additional income to the city, the city stands to earn more if we concentrate on turning around the current state of the Malimgas Market.

As of 2005 operations of Malimgas, the city subsidized 18.86 million pesos of Malimgas Expenses with delinquent stallholders amounting only to 491,000pesos. Therefore the city stands to gain more if it shall be renting out the 3rd and 4th floor as a Tourist/Commercial Complex which unfortunately as of present did not turn out to be a good parking area. The city is currently amortizing 71million pesos for its loans.

May 16, 2006—Submission of Letter of Intent by the following
1. JM Feliciano Construction of Mabalacat, Pampangga
IT failed in the Technical Bid for the reason that there was no approved Technical Reference coming from the City Engineer approved by the Sanggunian to be used as basis for the submission of its technical bid.

2. S & F (Siapno and Feliciano) Realty Corp joint venture with LXS Builders and Supplies with information that they have formed and filed with the SEC a corporation with a proposed name, Metrostate Realty Corporation. now Owned by
Romualdo F. Siapno
Mark F. Siapno
Maureen Y. Chua
Mary Karen C. Monzon
Mark Alvin P. Dy
Alexander G. Siapno
For the sake of discussion, if the bidding would have been in order. A corporation is a JURIDICAL personality. It is separate from S&F and LXS. It was S&F and LXS that were accredited by the SBAC. LXS came into the picture because of its PCAB license which made the joint venture a qualified bidder. How do we deal with Metrostate now, since it is a different personality that was not pre qualified and qualified by the SBAC? Does it have a PCAB license? Is a PCAB license transferable from LXS construction to Metrostate Corporation? If it were to get a PCAB license now, would it be unfair for GAMA Construction since it was not given the opportunity to also get a PCAB license to qualify itself? The SBAC may grant Metrostate to get a PCAB license to comply with the requirement. Again only for the sake of discussion.

3. Gamma Construction of Architect Glen Malig of Batasan Hills, Quezon City
Disqualified because it did not have any Philippine Contractors Accreditation Board License.

June 27, 2006— Discussion on pre qualification requirements
July 11, 2006—Submission of documents for pre qualification requirements for eligibility
Gamma Construction failed because it did not have a PCAB License
July 19, 2006— Issuance of Bids Documents
July 31, 2006— Pre bid conference
September 15, 2006— Pre qualified bidders submitted their documents
October 20, 2006— Submission of technical proposals
Oct23 to November3, 2006—Bid evaluation with assistance of Technical Working Group
November 7, 2006— Opening of Financial Proposals
METROSTATE REALTY CORPORATION was rated highest responsive bidder as per attached abstract of bids. HOW DID THE SBAC decide that it was METROSTATE Realty Corporation who had the most responsive BID when there was no TECHNICAL Plan to base their BID from as MANDATED BY THE LOCAL GOVERNMENT CODE THAT THE CITY ENGINEER is to prepare a PLAN to be approved by the SANGGUNIAN?

Finally, after the bidding and rating the BOT Operator , the city requested for an RDC approval.
November 28,2006—RDC Excom Resolution No.66, Series of 2006 Supporting and Endorsing the Magsaysay Park Development Project of the City Government of Dagupan as a Priority Project signed by Leonardo N Quitos, RDC ExCom Vice Chairman , and Ernesto V. Datuin, RDC ExCom Secretary. We would like to be clarified on why it was not the Chairman Salvador Duque or the Co Chairman Gov. Victor Agbayani who presided over the RDC meeting which usually meets only every 6months. May we also request a letter be transmitted by the City Legal to Mr Leonardo N Quitos who signed the RDC EXCOM(Executive Committee) Resolution if the resolution has the same POWER as an RDC en banc Resolution which is required in RA7718?

May we request the City Legal Officer to request the minutes of the meeting reflecting the attendance of the RDC EXCOM in the passage of the Resolution, to understand how deliberations are done by the council. The Sanggunian shall be doing the same request so both will have an original reply from the Regional Development Council or if the case may be, the RDC EXCOM.

Lastly, the city legal stated that there was already a turnover of what was known as the Bugnay Commercial Complex.
Please take note of the communications that followed.

December 5, 2006

Engineer Jane Rosario
City Engineer
Dagupan City

Dear Engineer Jane Rosario,

I am in receipt of a letter from our City Legal Officer, Atty Geraldine Baniqued stating to the fact that the Bugnay Market turned over their possession of what was known as the Bugnay Commercial Complex.

May we request from your office the status of these remnants from the almost 4,000 square meters of steel and concrete structure of the Bugnay Market? Can the city government still use these massive steel trusses that were recovered by the city through your office? Moreover, do you have any idea or estimate on the number of tons of steel trusses and steel material the city has recovered from the Bugnay Market? This will give us an idea of how much worth of steel we have recovered that may be used by the city for other constructive purposes.

May the Sanggunian Panlungsod also be updated on the clearing operations your office has done in the area? A report on the date you commenced said clearing operations and date you finished clearing the area?

Please have your written reply the soonest possible, so the Sanggunian may be updated on the matter.

Respectfully,

Sgd
VM Alvin Fernandez

REPLY OF THE CITY ENGINEER DATED DECEMBER 5, 2006

Hon. Alvin D. Fernandez
City Vice Mayor
Dagupan City

Sir:

This refers to your letter dated December 5, 2006 regarding the Bugnay Commercial Complex, A.B. Fernandez Ave., this city.

Please be informed that this Office were not involved in the clearing operations of the Bugnay Market because there were no Memorandum, Order or turn-over of said area in our office. However, it was learned by the undersigned that a certain Mr. Robert Sison was the one who demolished the said structure when it was almost done.

Furthermore, we cannot give the estimate on the number of tons of steel materials since it was not turn over to CEO compound the remnants of said structure.

Very truly yours,

Sgd
MA. VIRGINIA V. ROSARIO
City Engineer

WHERE are the REMNANTS of Bugnay?
The VM asked Waste Management Office which has a huge Lot that may accommodate the remnants. This was the reply of Waste Management.

For: HON. ALIPIO VITTORIO RAMON D. FERNANDEZ
City Vice Mayor

From: REGINALDO C. UBANDO
Chief, Waste Management Division

Subject: Verbal query on the possession of any materials from the demolish Bugnay Complex

Date: December 5, 2006

This is in connection with your verbal query to the undersigned regarding the custody of any material from the demolish Bugnay Building Complex, located at AB Fernandez Avenue fronting the City Hall Complex.

Please be informed that the Waste Management Division including the undersigned has no custody of any material/equipment from the demolished Bugnay Building Complex.

For your information

Very truly yours,

Sgd
REGINALDO C. UBANDO
Chief, Waste Management Division

THE VICE MAYOR AGAIN ASKED, where are the remnants? This time to THE CITY AGRICULTURE OFFICER WHO HAS IN HER JURISDICTION A HUGE LOT IN TONDALIGAN.

Madam Emma Molina answered; We have no steel or construction materials or any remnants of the Bugnay Complex in our City Agriculture Lot in Bonuan.

QUESTION.

WHERE ARE THE REMNANTS of BUGNAY THAT WERE SUPPOSED TO HAVE BEEN TURNED OVER TO THE CITY? Any concerned citizen is requested to appear before the Sanggunian to shed light on the matter.

The Sangguniang Panlungsod shall also be inviting Mr. Robert Sison to shed light on the matter.

WITH THE INDULGENCE OF THE CITY LEGAL OFFICER and CITY ADMINISTRATOR, MAY WE AGAIN BE CLARIFIED ON SAID ISSUES? Any correction and clarification in the statement of facts shall be greatly appreciated and used for the general welfare of our constituents.

Respectfully,

Sgd.
Alipio Vittorio Ramon D. Fernandez
City Vice Mayor and Presiding Officer

Cc: All SP Members

The Home Economics building where General Douglas Mc Arthur stayed is being restored through the initiative of the National Historical Institute. Shown is Rey Inovero who heads the Institute together with his assistant Architect Louie Valerio. VM Alvin and Carmen Prieto joined them in the inspection of the restoration.

VM Alvin attempts to assist carpenter in putting a nail in one of the frames.

Heritage Commission Carmen Melecio-Prieto invited VM Alvin Fernandez to attend the dialogue between the TOYO Construction building the 390million Pantal bridge and the National Historical Institute. The dialogue is to ensure that the Franklin Bridge is not demolished but preserved as a Heritage site to be enjoyed by tourist in their understanding of the History of Dagupan.

The Franklin Bridge used to be the only connection of Dagupan going to Lingayen and was presumably built in 1902. A great portion was washed away by the great flood of 1935 making the bridge unserviceable. Shown are portions of the remnants of Franklin Bridge. The TOYO construction promised to give the best effort to preserve the remnants which and even stated that they shall be restoring any portion that may be affected by the piling of the Pantal Bridge. However, there is a need to demolish two bays of the bridge as it is in the right of way of the Pantal Bridge.

Thank you very much my friend, Eugene for sending me the History of 43 U.S. presidents. The package was through the courtesy of Tita Gilda Ordono-Macasieb who brought it at the VM's residence together with her youngest son Antonio Macasieb, Jr., Eugene's brother.

Learning the lessons from 43 U.S. presidents will certainly boost my understanding on public leadership. I appreciate it very much. Thanks for the gift of knowledge.