Davide says coop’s ad on PB probe malicious

CEBU Gov. Hilario Davide III described as “malicious” a full-page advertisement paid for by the Cebu CFI Community Cooperative Inc. which accused some local officials of doing a demolition job against the coop.

“It was malicious although the name of the official wasn’t mentioned. For me, it was an affront to the Provincial Government. Maybe they really fear the review of the agreement (between the coop and the province),” he told reporters yesterday.

The ad entitled “So That The People May Know, A Call for Sobriety and The Rule of Law” was published in local dailies last week.

The provincial government also published a half-page advertisement in local papers yesterday.

In the ad, Davide stated that he supports the Provincial Board’s (PB) move to review the provisions of the existing agreement between the provincial government and the CFI.

The CFI ad tagged a “high-ranking Cebu Provincial official – not definitely the governor” as the brains behind a smear campaign against the coop by accusing it of running a scheme similar to the multi-billion Ponzi-style financial scam.

The CFI is headed by former judge Esperanza Garcia, mother of former governor Gwendolyn Garcia and defeated gubernatorial bet Pablo John Garcia.

In last Monday’s PB session Lito Astillero, a member of the CFI’s Board of Directors, said the ad was meant to explain the coop’s stance on the review of the memorandum of agreement (MOA) and the laws that support its payroll arrangement with the province.

Davide said he will implement a computerized payroll system in which a net pay of P5,000 will automatically be deposited in the payroll accounts of the employees following Section 37 of the General Appropriations Act (GAA) of 2012,

“The Provincial Government of Cebu, under my administration, is determined to introduce certain changes to promote and protect the welfare of its employees,” Davide stated in the ad.

Davide said deductions for loan payments, even from coops, cannot take precedence over mandated government deductions such as the monthly GSIS and Pag-ibig contributions. /Correspondent Peter L. Romanillos