Ahong Chan’s posturing in Lapu-Lapu City

By: JOE ALONSO TAN, TIMPOLOK, GUN-OB, and LAPULAPU CITY

After boasting and actively seeking John "Sonny" Osmena’s endorsement as Liberal Party’s mayoralty bet in Lapu-Lapu city, it is obvious that this was all political posturing by the Junard “Ahong” Chan. To be sure, Chan’s credence, track record and background is suspect and is a downright affront to what Liberal Party’s (LP) standard bearer Noynoy Aquino stands for to the Filipino people. A former ally of Mayor Arturo Radaza, Lapu-Lapu councilor Chan does not represent at all the kind of “radical change” and “personal integrity” that have been attached to this so-called Noynoy phenomenon. Now that the Certificates of Candidacy have been filed and it was Efrain “Jun” Pelaez, who was nominated by the Liberal Party as its standard bearer, Ahong is nowhere to be found in the LP ranks, instead he has sought an alliance with the NPC. Balimbing diay.
The reason why Noynoy is phenomenal, according to some political pundits, is that he is a symbol of change, the way his late mother was during the 1986 presidential snap elections. Change in the way our government must be run with integrity, conscience, and utmost sincerity to public service. Because this 2010 election is all about change, Chan is exactly the complete opposite of change. He lived and learned with the Radazas and was the ultimate insider.
A former ally and cohort of Radaza, Chan’s rise in rank, from a mere employee of the now-defunct Rural Bank of Subangdako (RBS, where the mayor’s wife, Paz Radaza, was the president before the bank’s ultimate collapse) to becoming Lapu-Lapu city councilor is suspect. In late 2007, Chan was linked to the city government’s alleged payroll scam, when Chan was still head of Barangay Affairs. He and Mayor Radaza, together with Barangay Captain Rufo Bering, were all the subject of a complaint filed with the Office of the Ombudsman for the Visayas by the Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry, a registered graft watch unit.
The complaint mentioned Chan as the perpetrator of a ghost employee scam using so-called “numerators,” who allegedly received a Php3,000 monthly honorarium from the city government. However, the “numerators” mentioned in the documents filed with the Ombudsman, said in their sworn statements that they in actuality received only P1,000 per employee but each signed for the P3,000 honorarium. Since there were hundreds of numerators, this scam amounted to millions of pesos per year.
The other “ghost payroll” case filed against Radaza and other Lapu-Lapu City officials concerned the city’s Clean and Green employees, wherein it was alleged that thousands of persons were receiving honorariums, including a dead person, of P1,500 monthly as indicated in the payroll sheets submitted. Ironically, it was former Vice Mayor Norma Patalinghug who provided the evidence to the Mactan Chamber which led to the filing of criminal cases and complaints against Radaza and others. Patalinghug is now a close ally of Radaza, but Chan who was previously his closest ally, is now the one criticizing Radaza in print and radio. Many of the signatures in the payroll sheets were executed by the same person. It is also alleged that millions were illegally collected from the Clean and Green payroll, entirely separate from the numerator payroll. Paz Radaza, the wife of the Mayor is in charge of the Clean and Green Program and other beautification projects in Lapu-Lapu. The criminal case is now pending at the Ombudsman.
It is no surprise that since the Noynoy phenomenon is all about change, that the LP swore in and nominated Efrain Pelaez Jr. as their mayoral candidate and Atty. Eugene Espedido for Congressman as well as their entire slate. Ahong Chan is merely a looming shadow of the Radazas since he grew up with them and was privy to all their activities since he was one of their closest confidantes. While he complains a lot in the media, he has not filed any cases or presented any evidence to the public against the Radazas. Maybe he is just pretending to be an oppositionist, and this is all just another moro-moro. After all, Norma Patalinghug played the same game as the oppositionist in the last election only to return to Radaza's side immediately after her loss. Birds of the same feather will always flock together.