Thursday, March 08, 2007 Seares:Tomas as punisher By Pachico A. Seare News Sense
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has asked Mandaue City Mayor Ted Ouano and Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Art Radaza to explain suspected overpricing of decorative lamps bought during Asean summit.
Mayor Tomas was blunt and harsh on Mayor Ted, saying the overpricing is plunder: "Tell Ouano to stop plundering."
Now, that assumes guilt without evidence, not unlike the classic offensive pre-judgment: "Have you stopped beating your wife?"
Giving a yes or no, Ted loses. Yes means he is plundering and will stop it. No means he won't stop the plunder.
Damning figures
OK, most people think the lamps are overpriced. Take the lamps specified by, and DPWH purchased for, Mandaue City at the price of P224,000 each.
Another supplier offers to sell them at P31,000 each, saying he can get them at P11,000 each in China. What can be more damning than that, with the figures still not refuted?
But in this system, suspicion is not enough. Otherwise, Mayor Ted and other officials linked to the scandal would be in jail already.
Look at how it works. The ombudsman is still inquiring into the charge aired in December and January. They starve for time: from fact-finding to formal probe, from recommending charges to actual filing with Sandiganbayan, then court trial, all of which, trust the lawyers, can take forever.
Takes forever
Meantime, at least P50 million overprice money is history, gone. And the deco lamps (if they survive vandals and the elements) mutely yet eloquently say the crooks are giving the anti-graft war a severe beating.
It seems Tomas, right or wrong, is the early punisher.
