Minalabac Mayor Gil D. Basmayor this week proposed the total dissolution of the Metro Naga Development Council (MNDC) because it has totally failed the expectations of member municipalities.

Mayor Basmayor

Basmayor said that MNDC has only been used by Naga City Mayor Jesse Robredo to serve his own purpose and has been “bleeding” member towns of its annual contributions without any commensurate return.

Moreover, 8 of 15 members or more than half have effectively left the fold of the council upon realizing that the body has only served as a prop for Robredo and Naga City.

Basmayor recalled that before the 2004 elections eight member towns signed a manifesto indicating that they were moving out from the MNDC because of its total failure to respond to their needs even while they continued to contribute to the MNDC coffers for 12 long years.

These municipalities included Minalabac, Milaor, Canaman, Calabanga, Bombon, Camaligan, Ocampo and Pamplona.

In the manifesto, mayors of the towns which opted to leave MNDC said they were never shown any financial report and no financial audit was ever conducted.

MNDC was created in 1993 during the time of President Fidel Ramos with whom Robredo was said to have an special attachment.

Robredo had vowed that towns within the MNDC would be recipients of windfalls from the national government in terms of crucial development projects. “Robredo may have secured projects but only for himself and for Naga City but never for the member towns” Basmayor said.

Worse, Robredo had used the MNDC by making award-giving entities believe MNDC was functioning well and members were experiencing rapid economic growth because of the supposed development body.