Bohol now waiting for P26.75M for Panglao airport land buy

By JUNE S. BLANCO

TO PANGLAO airport development skeptics, you got another think coming! Provincial Treasurer Eustaquio Socorin is now waiting for the bulk of the P26.75 million from the Department of Transportation and Communications (DOTC) to be reflected in the provincial government's special trust account opened for the purpose. This after Socorin received credit advice dated Oct. 6 for P1 million from the Tagbilaran Branch of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP-Tagbilaran) for the Panglao International Airport Project Before more funds trickled into the account however, Socorin had to increase his bond to cover the P30 million to P75 million bondable amount bracket. This means he had to increase the premium for his bond from P7,500 to P60,000. To note, Socorin already received a copy of the Notice of Cash Allocation (NCA) from the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) for such amount.

Budget Secretary Rolando Andaya Jr. had sent the DOTC Secretary an advice of NCA issued for the P26.75 million. The advice stated the purpose as “to cover the requirements for site acquisition activity relative to the implementations of the Panglao Airport Development Project.” Andaya also reminded the DOTC that all taxes withheld shall be remitted to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) through a Tax Remittance Advice pursuant to the provincions of the Department of Finance (DOF) and DBM Joint Circular 1-2000A dated July 31, 2001 .

Just like any other government funds, actual utilization and disbursements out of the cash allocation shall be subject to existing budgeting accounting and auditing rules and regulations. As of Tuesday, the amount remained the same. Socorin yesterday could not say if more funds have entered the account as he was at the Grand Regal Hotel in Davao City Wednesday to Friday to attend the nationwide conference of provincial and city assessors. Socorin said he wanted to know the stand of the Bureau of Local Government Finance (BLGF) on the paper submitted by Globe and Smart Communications on the move of local government units (LGUs) to collect real property tax for their cell sites. Globe's position is for exemption like Bayantel.

The BLGF top brass was proxied however, because of a death in the family. The proxy assured the assessors that the paper will be treated as urgent. Socorin also said as he has increased his bond, he will check with LBP tomorrow if more funds have been credited to the special trust account. Several landowners have been asking when they will get paid for their lots that are within the runway and the flight path.

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