By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — Councilors allied with Mayor Monico Puentevella will soon handle majority of the committees in the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP).
There will be a reorganization of SP committee chairmanships, which will be formalized via a resolution scheduled for approval next week, a source said.
Eight councilors under the MKK party (Magbinuligay Kita para sa Kauswagan) will chair at least 20 committees, mostly major ones, according to an e-mail the source sent to Panay News yesterday.
The remaining committees, said the source, will be divided among five members of the minority, all allied with former mayor and now Cong. Evelio Leonardia.
According to the e-mail, once the reorganization takes effect, the following councilors will handle the corresponding committees:
- El Cid Familiaran – health; urban poor; and police, security and jail management
- Jocelle Batapa–Sigue – trade, commerce and industry; tourism; and local and international cooperation
- Claudio Jesus Raymundo Puentevella – finance and appropriation; and fire, natural disasters and calamities
- Archie Baribar – education; urban development and planning; and senior citizens and veterans affairs
- Wilson Gamboa Jr. – public works; energy and communications; and environment
- Sonya Verdeflor – agriculture and fisheries; and markets and slaughterhouses
- Ann Marie Palermo – laws, ordinances and good government; and social services; and
- Noli Villarosa – barangay affairs; and transportation and traffic management.
The reorganization of committee chairmanships is a “natural result of a new majority,” said the source, who requested anonymity for lack of authority to speak prior to the approval of the resolution on the matter.
“We followed the procedure that the former majority followed: they choose all the committees they want and left us with the minor committees,” the source said.
The minority is composed of councilors Roberto Rojas, Em Ang, Caesar Distrito, Alex Paglumotan and Carl Lopez, and Vice Mayor Greg Gasataya, all under Grupo Progreso.
The remaining committees are human resource; family and child development; government assets; history, culture and arts; human rights; labor and management relations; overseas workers; women and gender; cooperatives and livelihood; youth and Sangguniang Kabataan affairs; and ways and means.
Last year, Baribar took over as the new flood leader to replace Distrito./PN
