Old political parties form Surigao del Norte alliance

SURIGAO CITY—A local alliance between two major national parties is taking shape in Surigao del Norte, roughly four months before the filing of the certificates of candidacy (COCs) for the 2016 elections.

Nacionalista Party (NP) spokesperson Ace Barbers announced over the weekend the alliance between NP’s local slate and the camp of Rep. Guillermo Romarate Jr., the Liberal Party chair for Surigao del Norte’s second congressional district.

“I’m proud to announce the tactical alliance between our local party and Congressman Romarate of the Liberal Party (LP),” said Barbers, who once served as governor and congressman of the province, at a press conference on June 13.

LP factions

The alliance ended months of tug-of-war between the two LP factions in Surigao del Norte for the coveted alliance with the Barbers, whose late patriarch, senator Robert Barbers, remains widely revered among the province’s poorest electorate.

In March, Romarate shocked allies when he and his wife, Board Member Myrna Romarate, resigned from Padajon Surigao, the local party that the Romarates and the Matugases formed in 2010 against the Barbers. The Romarates made it clear that they ditched only the local coalition and remained loyal with the LP.

Barbers, who is eyeing the second congressional district, said his camp decided to pick the Romarates for their “untainted record in government service.”

Gov. Sol Matugas currently leads the LP in the province as chair, while Surigao City Mayor Ernesto Matugas and Rep. Francisco Matugas serve as LP heads for the city and the province’s first congressional district.

Cases

In April, the Ombudsman approved the filing of graft charges against Mayor Matugas for hiring 14 employees in 2011 allegedly without the approval of the city council.

The mayor’s brother is implicated in the pork barrel scam and is facing a plunder case for converting some P63.5 million of his Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) into intelligence funds.

Representative Matugas (1st district) allotted some P20 million to questionable nongovernment organizations (NGOs), according to a 2013 Commission on Audit (COA) report covering the period 2007-2009.

One of these NGOs—Dr. Rodolfo A. Ignacio Sr. Foundation (DRAISFI)—received P13.5 million from Matugas’ PDAF. But COA said DRAISFI was not registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but was issued permits by the local government of Quezon City. The NGO listed two addresses that turned out to be nonexistent upon COA’s verification.

From pork to intelligence

In 2013, a local watchdog accused Representative Matugas of illegally allocating at least P63.5 million from his pork as intelligence funds of 15 towns shortly before the 2010 elections. The lawmaker insisted that the PDAF conversion was aboveboard, despite a COA ruling that disallowed the allocation.

Gov. Matugas was accused in 2011 of diverting some P5 million from the province’s intelligence funds to her own account. The Ombudsman, however, junked the case due to a technicality.

Unfit for P-Noy path

In breaking off their coalition with the Matugases, the camp of Rep. Romarate sought to portray their ex-allies as “unfit for the Tuwid na Daan.”

“It’s time that we localize the ‘Tuwid na Daan’ mantra of President Aquino, the head of our (Liberal) party,” the lawmaker said, describing the controversies hounding the Matugases as “bad news for Liberal Party in 2016.”

Fernando Almeda Jr., head of the local watchdog Cosuggta (Coalition of Surigaonons for Good Governance Transparency and Accountability) said local LP leaders in the province betrayed the Straight Path mantra of President Aquino.

“The so-called straight path of President Aquino becomes hypocritical when, in the local arena, LP officials are involved in all manner of shenanigans and abuse of power,” said Almeda.

Calls and text messages seeking comment from Rep. Matugas, the family’s patriarch, were not returned. Danilo V. Adorador II, Inquirer Mindanao