Dumaluan intrudes into ABC meet for release of 20% fund

Calling him a gate crasher, Mayor Doloriech Dumaluan barged into the meeting of the Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) Tuesday and got what he wanted: asking approval for the release of Panglao's long dormant 20 percent development fund. Dumaluan's antics Tuesday did not escape the probing eyes of his political enemies in lawyers Dennis Hora and Benjie Arcamo who exposed the mayor's gate crashing caper. The two mortal enemies of the Panglao mayor described him as gatecrasher during the duo's program Panglao Pagpakabana over Station DYTR.

The occasion where the mayor came uninvited was the regular ABC meeting held in the house of its president Ranulfo Millalos. Although it was an ABC meeting, the mayor succeeded in converting it into a meeting of the Municipal Development Council. That done, Mayor Dumaluan took over the role of presiding officer and made the motions of informing the body that he has in his possession two MDC resolutions calling for the implementation and approval of MDC projects and program charged against the 20% development fund for 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007.

Panglao earned the distinction in the entire province of having an unspent 20% development fund dating back to the time when Dumaluan assumed office in 2004. The never ending bickering between the office of the mayor and the Sangguniang Bayan was blamed for the impasse in the disbursement of the 20% development fund. During Tuesday's meeting, the mayor reportedly prepared a ready-made resolution that would pave the way for the release of the four-year allocation of the town's development fund.

Arcamo who is the chair of the SB committee on appropriation is supposed to be a member of the MDC but he was conspicuously absent. He reasoned out why should he attend when it was not supposed to be an MDC meeting. Resolution no. 2 of the supposed MDC meeting called for the approval of the priority development project/programs for funding out of the 20th development fund of calendar year 2007 for inclusion in the annual budget and development plan in the amount of P4,820,947.00 Among the projects Dumaluan wished to be funded were P1,000,000 waterworks improvement; P400,000, tourism promotion; P1,000,000, agriculture and livelihood; P1,000,000, aid to barangay; P1,070,947, purchase of 10-wheeler dump truck; P150,000, road maintenance; P200,000, communal toilet and septic tank.

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