• GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental 5th district board member aspirant Patrick Miguel Montilla has withdrawn his candidacy for the May 12 elections, citing personal reasons.
In a statement, Montilla said he withdrew his candidacy by filing a sworn statement of cancellation/withdrawal before the Provincial Comelec office on January 29, in accordance with Section 73 of the Omnibus Election Code.
Being a sugarcane farmer, Montilla said he earlier filed his candidacy as a board member, representing the 5th district of the province, to help the sugar industry, especially the farm workers who have been exploited by their contractors, through legislation.
It is ironic how the stakeholders in the sugar industry are seemingly left on their own to fend off the challenges facing them, without any form of assistance or protection from the local government, he noted.
Workers transfer from one farm to the next, without finishing their contracts, because they are not receiving the full compensation from their “contractors”, Montilla said.
In the end, planters are left with their standing canes looking for cutters from outside the province, paying higher rates, in spite of them paying advances to the contractors. Worse, both planters and workers have no adequate and effectual legal recourse to run after the contractors, he added.
He also cited that the lack of support from the government makes it easy for unscrupulous individuals to exploit agrarian reform beneficiaries who are also stakeholders in the sugar industry.
Montilla further revealed that he has been exploring other opportunities which led him to alternative avenues that “might even provide for a faster and more efficient way of realizing his goal to initiate and enact provincial legislation for road safety and protecting the sugar industry,” without the need for him to be elected as a member of the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.
“I might lose these alternative avenues if I run as a candidate for Board Member, which is why I opted to withdraw my candidacy so I can pursue these alternatives,” Montilla added.
He further said that he does not wish to preempt the outcome of these alternatives which he and his supporters are still working on.
But Montilla promised that will be all aligned with his desire of protecting and securing the interests of the 5th District, which he will reveal at the right time.*
