THE JFK STATUE: WHAT'S THE DIFFERENCE?
The old and the newly painted J.F.K. statue
"TO THE CITIZEN OF THE WORLD:
ASK NOT WHAT AMERICA CAN DO FOR YOU, BUT ASK IF WHAT WE CAN DO TOGETHER FOR THE
GOOD OF THE WORLD." This inscription could be found on the foot of the
statue of John Fitzgerald Kennedy (29
May 1917 – 22 November 1963) who was the 35th President of the United States, in Mambukal Mountain Resort at Murcia, Negros
Occidental owned and managed by the Provincial Government of Negros Occidental.
The statue was donated by Felix V.
Garzon in 1964. This is during the incumbency of the 38th Governor of Negros
Occidental, HON. VALERIANO GATUSLAO - elected, January 1, 1964 - January
16, 1965 serving for (1 year & 15 days).
This was eight years after the establishment THE MAMBUKAL TOWNSITE FOR HEALTH CENTER AND
RECREATION RESORT PURPOSES.
By the way here’s the law
covering Mambukal RESORT:
REPUBLIC ACT
NO. 1964 - AN ACT ESTABLISHING THE
MAMBUKAL TOWNSITE FOR HEALTH CENTER AND RECREATION RESORT PURPOSES
Section 1.
There is hereby established, for health center and recreation resort
purposes, subject to private rights, if any there be, a townsite, to be known
as the Mambukal Townsite, in certain tract of public domain situated in the
barrio of Mambukal, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros Occidental, the
exact area, boundaries and limits of which to be defined and determined as
hereinafter provided.
Section 2.
The Director of Lands, in collaboration with the National Planning
Commission, shall within three months after the approval of this Act, have a
survey made of the exterior boundaries of the Mambukal Townsite, as well as a
subdivision of the area included in such survey, in accordance with section
seventy-four of Commonwealth Act Numbered One hundred forty-one, otherwise
known as the Public Land Act. The plat of the subdivision shall designate lots
of sufficient sizes and convenient situation for public use, as well as the
necessary avenues, streets, alleyways, parks and squares. Upon completion of
the boundary and subdivision surveys and approval by the Secretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources of the plat of the subdivision, the Director
of Lands shall have the same recorded in the office of the register of deeds
concerned and shall certify the boundary and subdivision plans to the President
of the Philippines, who shall by executive order define the boundaries and
limits of the townsite.
Section
3. The administration and disposition
of the lots within the Mambukal Townsite shall be undertaken by the province,
all provisions of existing law to the contrary notwithstanding.
Section 4.
In the event that a portion or the whole of the townsite is within the
Kanlaon National Park, the same is hereby segregated therefrom to be dealt with
in accordance with this Act. The Provincial Board of Negros Occidental shall
have the power to purchase, accept gifts or donations of, or institute
expropriation proceedings for, such lands as may be within the territorial
extent of the townsite which are necessary to attain the purposes of this Act.
Section 5.
The Province of Negros Occidental shall bear the expenses for the
construction and maintenance in the townsite of fountains, health or
recreational buildings, avenues, streets, plazas, parks and lighting, water and
sewage systems, and other public utilities which are necessary to carry out the
purposes of this Act. Ninety per cent of all funds derived from the sale of
public lands within the townsite shall accrue to the Provincial Treasury of
Negros Occidental and shall be spent only for the construction and maintenance
of the facilities and utilities herein enumerated, and the remainder to the
Bureau of Lands to cover the cost of delimitation, survey, administration and
disposition of the lots within the townsite.
Section 6.
This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Approved: June 22, 1957
I ask the personnel why they made some facelifting on the statue. He readily answered: It was brought by the media and their attention was called by the governor. Thanks Governor!!! I was the one posted the statue in my facebook and made likes of the US Embassy Official facebook page.
LINE AND GRID
The Blade Spa Building
Home along the river? The building along the river - the blade spa. For aesthetic purpose this maybe is satisfying. But for the building official of the Murcia, a violation of the National Building Code is real. By the way do all structures within Mambukal Resort covered with approved building permits? If not, whose neglect?
The above picture shows that certain extent of reclamation is constricting the flow of the river. DENR-EMB will not allow this. And the Philippine Reclamation Authority will likewise reprimand the governor for illegal reclamation. Or this could be a partisan political issue this election time.
LIQUID WASTE MANAGEMENT
At this time, liquid waste management of the entire resort maybe is not a problem. I can not tell but the law says liquid waste management is a must. Water quality monitoring is absent. Who could tell Mambukal is now a major polluter of the river downstream or not?
WHOSE MAKING MONEY OUT OF MAMBUKAL RESORT?
The Provincial Government is the quick answer.
Of course the Food Providers who have the exclusive rights for the entire resort, The Blade SPA Operator, The Security Agency, the Butterfly Garden and many more. This is good. They have permits from the Municipality of Murcia and BIR Permits to Operate. By the way, why they don't issue Official Receipts? And they do not know how to issue official receipts.
Fully-booked! This means maximum income is derived from the lodging facilities of the resort. This means the Provincial Government could further invest on lodging facilities. There is good business inside Mambukal.
But who is gaining tremendous amount of income when the facilities are fully booked? The camping tent owners who rent-up tents in the amount of P600 per overnight. The Governor probably knows this. Or if he has no knowledge about this thin he should investigate. Initially, here's my story:
At about 4 p.m. I arrived at Mabukal Resort. To my dismay, it's fully booked. Lowly people like me have no other option but to explore other possibilities just to spend the night unharmed. Readily, somebody, a man of big built with a radio transceiver on his belt offered a tent at P600 overnight. That was good. I made arrangement with the staff who is issuing the official receipt that once I found the tent OK I will give to him the amount entrance fee. She readily agreed. Upon reaching the the tent, I asked if where is the nearest comfort room. He told me that the oldest hotel building has the comfort rooms open 24 hours. I gave him the rental amount for the tent and the payment of entrance fee and he left.
In the morning, I woke up. Opss! Two persons with IDs came to collect camping fee at P30 per person. Only at this time that I knew that the camping tent leasing business belongs to a private person. Wow! There are at least 10 tents with additional "trapal" cover around the vicinity. So, he has P6,000.00 for that night. If there are 30 days time P6,000, then he may earn P180,000.00 per month. Probably this too much. I just do this for emphasis. The Mayor of Murcia probably earns P35,000.00 per month as his legal salary but this man leasing tents earns twice or several times higher than the mayor. The mayor pays for his taxes. This man has no permit to operate business. He pays no tax to the BIR.
The governor probably has no knowledge of this. I am telling him of it, now.
When I went home, I pass the entrance fee collector to get my official receipt because as earlier agreed I will give the amount to the man who leased the tent to me. Wow governor, PATI BAYAD KO SA ENTRANCE FEE NATUKLO KAY WALA SYA GINHATAG NGA OFFICIAL RECEIPT. TAWO MO NI SIYA GOB?
WHAT IS LACKING?
The law says: "There is hereby established, for health center and recreation resort purposes, subject to private rights, if any there be, a townsite, to be known as the Mambukal Townsite, in certain tract of public domain situated in the barrio of Mambukal, Municipality of Murcia, Province of Negros Occidental, the exact area, boundaries and limits of which to be defined and determined as hereinafter provided."
What I found in Mambukal is a mobile van which by any definition could not satisfy the requirements of a health Center.
The town site is not there. A police station or a single firetruck could not be found there.
SUGGESTION: A SEPARATE WARM SULFUR DIPPING POOL FOR THE ELDERLY
The senior citizen who are oftentimes sickly deserved a separate facility. Not only that this is provided by law but also to protect other pool users from contamination. Not all bacteria could be treated by sulfur. The present set up is a good venue for bacterial and viral exchange. If we consider this sulfur dipping facility as health facility then it must be managed by health professionals.
QUO VADIS MAMBUKAL . . . . YOUR FUTURE LIES ON THE HANDS OF THE GOVERNOR!
