Mayor hits Solidum for lahar threat statement

ITY OF SAN FERNANDO - Bacolor town Jose Mari “Jomar” Hizon has lam basted Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) Director Renato Solidum for issuing statement on the threat of lahar in some Pampanga towns.

Hizon claimed that the Solidum’s “unsolicited statements” in 2016 cost his town lots of business and development opportunities

The mayor was referring to the statement Solidum issued to Pampanga-based mediamen in June 2016 saying that heavy rains that will be brought about by an Ondoy-like typhoon may trigger lahar flows and flooding in Pampanga.

Solidum said that eruption of Mount Pinatubo is over but the lahar has been a lingering threat, particularly on areas in and around the FVR megadike which mostly covers Bacolor t ow n.

of San Marcelino, Estela Antipolo of San Antonio, and Joseph Inton of Hermosa receive their shares from Eisma.

Eisma said the P147.22 million distributed last week represented LGU shares for the second half of 2017.

The amount was 6.96 percent lower than the P150.46 distributed for the same period last year.

“SBMA is continuously working on every possible means to attract more investors to create more jobs and increase the LGU shares,” Eisma said during the turnover at the SBMA head office last Friday.

She urged the LGUs to help the SBMA develop estates in their respective areas and to start planning for the extension of the Freeport’s fenced-in areas because the SBMA is already running out of space to meet the space requirement of new and bigger investors.

“If we could no longer accept new investors, the LGU shares from SBMA would not improve further, and, worse, could even diminish,” she noted.

“We have to find ways to extend the Freeport area, so that we could grow and develop more businesses and create more livelihood opportunities for local residents,” she added.

Locators and investors operating within the Subic Bay Freeport remit to the SBMA a percentage of their gross income.

Of the five percent gross revenue, three percent goes to the national treasury, while two percent is distributed by the SBMA among the eight neighboring LGUs.

The LGU share is computed based on population, 50 percent; land area, 25 percent, and equal sharing, 25 percent. (Ric Sapnu)