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Saturday, October 01, 2005
Espinoza: Wishful thinking
By Elias L. Espinoza
COUNTING. In a manner of speaking, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is already counting the chicks before the eggs hatch.
He recently bragged to the local press that the City Government will earn about P2.9 billion when it sells the 29 hectares of land at the South Reclamation Project (SRP) after the City was issued special patents to these lots.
Mayor Osmeña valued the lots at P100 million per hectare. Perhaps thinking that the price is too high, he told the press the City could go down to P80 million per hectare. That’s still a lot of money, though.
The foreign loan that the City Government took for the SRP has placed its finances in dire straits. City services have been affected since it is repaying huge monthly charges for the loan.
In fact, he made this admission before the press when he said: “I just want to remove the financial pressure on the City in the next few years, because it’s already affecting the image of the City.”
Under the current political climate, however, I seriously doubt if there will be investors daring enough to buy the SRP lots at that whopping price. Experience tells us that investors always go for a politically stable government.
No, Mayor Osmeña was not dreaming. He was only trying to portray a rosy picture for the City’s finances. The City is cash-strapped, with its humongous monthly amortization for its foreign loan.
Reports have it the City paid around P300 million for the Aug. 20 billing alone.
The amount covered the first payment of the principal, amounting to P150 million, the interest of P140 million and the P10-million fee to the National Government as the guarantor of the loan from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.
So Cebu City owes the Japanese Government some P6.3 billion (based on the current exchange rate) for the 295-hectare reclamation project, of which a portion is being claimed by Talisay City.
ILLEGAL. The warrantless arrest and detention of Land Bank robbery suspect Isagani Chico was illegal. This is not in defense of the suspect, but police cannot compromise due process for expediency.
Under the principle of warrantless arrest, personal knowledge is required before the police can arrest and detain a crime suspect. Police lacked the required basis to arrest and detain Chico.
They acted as if martial law was already in place. Police could have amended the existing complaint or information against the robbery suspects to include Chico and apply for a warrant for his arrest.
Perhaps police were only doing their best to catch Chico. But shortcuts have no place in our democratic system since Chico is still entitled to the constitutional presumption of innocence.
Police can still remedy the situation by including Chico in the information against the other accused in the robbery of Land Bank in Bogo. This will not, however, absolve them of any administrative, if not criminal liability.
RESTRAINT. I deeply sympathize with the sentiments of Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal on the President’s order prohibiting government and military officials from testifying in any congressional investigation without her consent.
Execute Order (EO) 464, by any definition, is a veiled attempt to cover up the truth in the Senate investigation that President Arroyo cheated in the last elections.
In an interview, Cebu’s prince of peace told a TV station that “things are being blocked step by step. They are creating problems they are expecting us to solve.”
EO 464 was issued after Brig. Gen. Francisco Gudani, former commander of the marines, testified before the Senate blue ribbon committee about what he witnessed during the last elections in his area of responsibility in Mindanao.
Call me a pessimist, but I just wish the next presidential order will not be to restrain the press. If that happens, the next thing we know, Martial Law will already be declared in metropolitan areas where street protests against the President are active.
And for revealing what he knows before the Senate, General Gudani is going to face court martial. For what charges, I really don’t know, since testimonies before a Senate blue ribbon committee are absolutely privileged.
(October 1, 2005 issue)
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