• Banias believed that he got the ire of persons who have personal interest on nylon shell gathering

Provincial Administrator Raul Banias denied the fund malversation issue thrown at him by Concepcion Mayor Milliard Villanueva.

Villanueva said that Concepcion, where Banias was its former mayor, is heavily indebted by P19 million when he took over the post on June 30, 2010. He added that there is P5.2 million cash in the bank that cannot be accounted for.

"Why did it take him 21 months to say that I mismanaged the affairs of the town when right after my term, the Commission on Audit (COa) already had an audit report and it never said I malversed local funds?" Banias said.

Banias said his term ended in 2007 and Mayor Betsy Salcedo succeeded him, so he wondered why Villanueva seemed to place the blame on him.

"He might be worried that I will run again as mayor that's why he keeps mouthing that false information around the municipality. It seems that he wants to destroy my good name among our constituents," he added.

Banias said when he became mayor in 1998, he inherited a loan by the Local Government Unit (LGU) worth P8 million for the construction of the public market, another P1 million loan from the Philippine Commercial and Industrial Bank (PCIB) for the lot that they purchased as well as arrears with the Government Service Insurance System (GSIS).

"I paid all those loans and updated our accounts with GSIS. Of course it was a financial struggle for a 4th class municipality but I never malversed government funds," he explained.

The provincial administrator added that when he was recognized as the Most Outstanding Municipal Mayor of the country in 2001 and the Lingkod Bayan Presidential Awardee of the Civil Service Commission in 2007, the evaluators scrutinized the municipality's financial management.

Banias stressed that he couldn't have won those awards if there were doubts on his financial management.

He added that Villanueva's basis in saying that he and former Mayor Salcedo mismanaged the municipal finances was not a COA report but that of his cousin he engaged as consultant and who did the "investigation".

NYLON SHELL

Banias believed that he got the ire of persons who have personal interest on nylon shell gathering after the Bantay Dagat Task Force had effectively and legally prevented them from harvesting this resource inside a marine sanctuary.

"I cannot, in conscience allow the destruction of our marine sanctuary that was protected for almost 25 years, the reason that this marine resources became abundant in Concepcion. Without the Bantay Dagat, I can only imagine the wanton destruction of our marine resources because I have testimonies that some persons close to the mayor are allowing commercial fishing boats to operate inside the municipal waters," he added.

He added that "shell gatherers use unsafe air compressors as breathing apparatus and are paid low while they are raking more than a hundred thousand pesos daily from the operation."

To prove the testimony, six fishing boats using air compressors with 28 crews were apprehended in the municipal waters of the town by the Bantay Dagat personnel Monday last week.

RUN

As for running for the mayoral post in the town, Banias said "that option is still open, because I still have the support of incumbent local political leaders and I am confident of winning if ever I decide to seek re-election."

"I hope they don't give me enough reason to challenge them in the election because I will give them an exciting fight. I have never lost an election, and I ran five times in Concepcion," he said.

Banias said he is not from Concepcion because he was born and raised in Lemery. He only came to Concepcion as a volunteer rural doctor.*