Unless something drastic will take place, the current composition of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan will remain a house divided, as shown from its inaugural session Monday where three maverick members made their presence felt by insisting that they were not meant to be “yes men”, after all. Three “political musketeers”—Board Members Dionisio Balite, Josephine Socorro Jumamoy and Gerardo Garcia made a gallant stand to question the propriety of apportioning committee chairmanships to favored administration stalwarts. The new presiding officer V-Gov. Concepcion Lim drew first blood from the three opposition firebrands after they questioned her for having apportioned the committees without benefit of consultation. But Lim was quick to deny the accusation.
In an interview yesterday, Lim denied discriminating opposition members from any committee assignment. She said, during the pre-session conference, she appraised her opposition colleagues about the committee chairmanship and there was no complaint from their end. But in separate interviews with Balite and Jumamoy, they maintained that there was no consultation. They said it was only during the session proper that they were told about the appointments of committee heads. Balite, for his part, even went to the point of taking to task Lim's despotic and dictatorial behavior when she presided over the inaugural session. The opening session was also attended by Gov. Edgar Chatto, Lim's party mate. At the same time, Balite also put on the spot Lim's handling of the session when she ordered to dispense the reading of the minutes of the previous meeting.
Making no pretention to hide his knowhow in parliamentary rules and procedures, Balite questioned Lim's actuation in dispensing the minutes of the previous session saying it was not the way to do it adding that there should be a proper motion and duly seconded. That put Lim in an awkward position as a presiding over triggering a harsh exchange of heated rhetoric. Apparently caught at his wit's end given Balite's parliamentary superiority being a lawyer, Lim sought refuge to the common tactic of the beaten—challenging her adversary to become “vice governor first” before engaging in a tit-for-tat. It was a fitting repartee to an otherwise heated back-and-forth between two formidable political enemies.
NO LOVE LOST
Actually, as sparks flew during the SP inaugural session, it became apparent that there was no love lost between the two Valencia lawmakers. Although Lim refused to admit that Balite was her political adversary, her body language said otherwise. As for Balite, he admitted in a separate radio interview that he remained cordial to her own town mate much more now that she is the new vice governor. Asked to comment to alleged Lim diatribe that he was a creation of the Valencia dynasty, Balite who owns a chain of schools, denied being so, adding if he did become successful in his own right, it was because he was his own man. He said if at all there was a time that he was close to the Lims, it was all anchored on a lawyer-client relation. But according to some SP observers, even if Lim managed to put a brave front in handling the duties of presiding officer, her slip was still showing that she was not up to her job. She appeared feeling her way as if she is yet to find her range somehow. But as time goes by, the same observers believed that Lim will be on top of the situation and can soon afford to engage any SP pretender to a pulsating cerebral exercise.
Monday's inaugural session was filled to the rafters of curiosity seekers in an apparent concern of how Lim might have handled the tricky job of SP presiding officer. Although, Lim was considered a veteran lawmaker being a three-termer board member plus her stint as ex-oficio member representing the Liga ng mga Barangay, the lady from Valencia was under microscopic scrutiny if indeed she was up to the challenging role of SP presiding officer. More at home in dealing with executive routines, Lim showed inexperience in handling high-tension acts like presiding a legislative session where a fault finder with a better facility of delivering the king's language is out to put her on the spot knowing her ignorance in parliamentary rules.
DIVIDE THE HOUSE
As the exchange of bitter words between Lim and Balite became so heated, Board Member Cesar Tomas Lopez motioned to divide the house. As in any heated proceeding involving lawmaking bodies like the SP, the clincher to a house divided was to divide the house thus untangling the impasse. In a 9-3 vote, the SP majority proved to all those who made up the jampacked crowd attending the inaugural session that it was one unmistakable message that it had the number to torpedo whatever trapping of opposition unity. The final count showed that only three board members had at least the balls to stand in the way of Lim's alleged despotic tendencies. As shown by their tenacity to oppose the committee assignments in the early going of the session, the three board members who stood up against the ruling majority were Balite, Jumamoy and Garcia.
Those who composed the majority were neophytes Board Members lawyers Abeleon Damalerio, Venzencio Arcamo and BMs Cesar Tomas Lopez, Dr. Romulo Cepedoza, Godofreda Tirol, Dr. Bienvenido Molina, Brigido Imboy, new federated president Ariel Lungay of PCL Bohol chapter. New Liga ng mga Barangay president Crispina Vergara voted in favor of the move while Sangguniang Kabataan federated president Jane Censoria Cajes was visibly absent during the session. Each of the new and old faces composing the new provincial board was given time to deliver his/her words of gratitude, visions and call for unity and hard work. And as expected in accordance with practice, each board member, Chatto included, when his time came, rose up from their respective seats and went to the podium as a sign of respect, except Lim, who just remained seated, to deliver his/her piece.
SP COMMITTEE CHAIRS
The SP committee chairmanships were as follow: Vice-Gov. Lim, appropriations and personnel committees; Damalerio, agriculture and environment; Lopez, health and education; Balite, review of municipal ordinances and rules; Arcamo, good gov't/justice and trade and industry; Tirol, tourism and women/family; Molina, zoning and ways and means; Imboy, public works and peace/order; Jumamoy, general resolutions and labor/social services. Cajes still chairs the youth and sports committee; Cepedoza, govt. properties and public utilities; Garcia, public accountability; Vergara, barangay affairs; and Lungay, culture/arts and NGO and civil society organizations.
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