Corruption at Davao City Council - Update 8

Davao City Councilor floor leader Danilo Dayanghirang said weak house rules make city councilors vulnerable to corruption.

          A month after being installed as floor leader, Dayanghirang said amending the city council house rules is the first in his personal agenda he would pursue this month.

          At the Gikan sa Masa Para sa Masa television program on ABS/CBN-Davao yesterday, Dayanghirang was specific: councilors turn in committee reports without committee hearing.

          This anomaly, he said, opens opportunities for committee chairmen to favor particular legislation.

          All proposals should be subject to committee hearings to give everybody to say their piece, he said in the program hosted by councilor Mabel Acosta.

          But Dayanghirang’s blast maybe off tangent. In a rule strictly imposed at plenary, committee chairs are allowed to read out committee reports only after conduct of committee hearings which are required as part of the committee reports.

          Dayanghirang should first look at records of his predecessors in relation to committee reports before he opens his mouth, said a city councilor who begged anonymity.

          His charge about lack of committee hearings also comes as a sad commentary against councilor Bonifacio Militar, whom he replaced early this month as floor leader.

          Militar, a lawyer, also chairs the committee on rules, which fine combs legislative proposals before it is thrown to the floor for deliberation.

          In the program, Dayanghirang admitted he was having nightmares with the load attendant to his new work as floor leader and chair of the rules committee.

          I have hired 3 legal researchers to help me out with the committee reports, he said.

          Earlier after the new floor leader was installed, councilor Nilo Abellera said he doubted Dayanghirang could measure up to the job being a non-lawyer.

          The job of the floor leader requires an extensive legal background, said Abellera adding Dayanghirang has no law background.

   

         

           

<!–[if !supportEmptyParas]–> <!–[endif]–>