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Friday, January 23, 2004
Editorial: Not paying that debt
Not every act in government can be beneficial exclusively to the public.
Payment for goods or services cannot be refused just because they also enhance the private interest of the official who contracted them.
Then mayor Alvin Garcia bought for the City of Cebu broadcast time to spread information on its services. A radio program on dyLA recorded requests and complaints on streetlighting, garbage collection and the like.
Other programs on dyMF, dyAB, and dySS, among others, promoted the “greening of Cebu” and the information technology projects.
Those were clearly activities on which public funds could be spent because they benefited the public. At the same time though, they also benefited Garcia, who was then running for reelection.
Must the media outlets’ demand for payment be refused because they also benefited the then incumbent mayor?
The Supreme Court has adopted the principle of looking at the major use of public money, not at the incidental benefit, in determining whether it is spent legally.
A different rule would tie the hands of any incumbent public official, for few activities could pass the test of pure public purpose.
Look at the activities of the present mayor and council. A meeting of barangay captains purportedly to discuss projects is also a meeting to mend political fences. Even a Sinulog activity paid by City Hall is opportunity to promote the officials’ candidacy.
Those are incidentals that an incumbent official enjoys. Funny and outrageous that Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who now wallows in those incidentals, must punish the broadcast firms because Garcia benefited from them too during his term.
Mayor Osmeña argues that it is public interest prompting his refusal to pay the P1.7 million owed to the broadcast outlets.
Had the expense been incurred by an ally, not a political rival who almost beat him in the elections and severely drubbed his ego, the debt would have been promptly paid. See how he pushed, puffed and huffed to pay those “defective” dump trucks?
This stance of the mayor should not surprise anyone, not journalists who have seen him up close, his antics and posturing since Day One. Policy and deed have heeded the same compulsion for revenge against political enemies, one that gives no quarters until they bite the dust in the next campaign.
Now, the City Council already ratified the transaction. The councilors must have appreciated the doctrine of “apparent authority” (the act of the sitting mayor is presumed legal and must be respected by his successor) and “quantum meruit” (value for services rendered). Seeing the contracts in a less hostile light, the councilors corrected the contracts’ flaw.
The mayor, however, said he would not be cowed by journalist Bobby Nalzaro, who has been most visible and vocal about City Hall’s debt. Osmeña said he will veto the council decision and give the councilors a lesson on how to do their job.
How sad. Few things are sadder than seeing a tightly shut, vengeful mind, much more so in a leader whose decisions, like it or not, affect many of us.
(January 23, 2004 issue)
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