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Thursday, May 25, 2006
Editorial: A likely story
APPARENTLY it wasn't a snub but a case of "misplaced invitations," which is the reason for the no-show by the officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) Northern Mindanao.
According to a radio interview, the DPWH officials went to the office of Acting Mayor Michelle Tagarda-Spiers and told her that one of their temporary clerks misplaced the invite sent by the City Council to them for last Monday's regular session.
It wasn't a snub, they insist, because they were only informed later that they were invited. One can take their explanation with a ton of salt, or as one announcer put it "tell that to the Marines."
One thing can be said of this episode; if a giant government agency like the DPWH with its full staff whose salaries are fully paid for by us taxpayers can't handle a simple thing like a City Council invitation, how much more can we expect them to competently handle multi-million or even billion peso projects like the Laguindingan International airport, or to a lesser extent, bridge repairs and retro-fitting such as those currently being done at the Ysalina bridge?
The average observer wishes that this official verbal explanation given by these DPWH officials bears a semblance or even a quiet ring of truth but somehow their excuse is hard to believe.
And what about those contractors who are tasked to implement the bridge repairs? After having been absent from the session the least that the DPWH could have done was inform the contractor about the invitation so they could both drop by the vice-mayor's office and give their pledge to show up at the next City Council session.
It is probably only after they get dressed down by the media, or exposed for the apparent neglect they have shown towards the bridge repairs that they come scuttling about like children caught playing hokey when they're supposed to be buying milk from the nearby sari-sari store.
Again we reiterate that a lot of city residents and visitors have caught workers napping or slacking off their jobs with nary the presence of the contractor or a DPWH official in sight.
Which gives the impression and the idea -- however it may be farfetched and not supported by any facts or credible explanations, which the parties concerned haven't bothered in the least to provide the public with -- that these contractors and DPWH officials are in the bridge repairs project only for the money and letting their underlings continue on with their mediocre work while they relax inside their air-conditioned offices and derisively laugh at the misfortune that befell city residents as they sweat it out adjusting to the new traffic routes and the inconvenience it brings just to arrive at their respective destinations.
Even with any interviews they may have granted to TV, the public remains unsatisfied owing to eyesore that is the bridge closure. For all we know they may only be giving interviews to gain a share of the spotlight.
Until they show their faces to the public and explain to them before a City Council session what's going on, they will continually be held in suspicion and contempt, viewed as nothing more than a cabal of slackers greedily rubbing their hands in anticipation of the next multi-million peso project.
And even with that hanging over their heads, these people should be reminded daily complete with brass marching bands and hundreds of megaphones screaming over their ears that they should finish their work immediately. No ifs and buts about it.
(May 25, 2006 issue)
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