Thursday, March 22, 2007 Seares: ‘The lamps only appear overpriced’ By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
THE lawyer of a supplier of the now infamous decorative lamps quoted the firm's project manager, "They are not overpriced. They only appear overpriced."
Wouldn't people wish the lamps were really that -- not overpriced, just looking overpriced. That would spare us the pain over the loss of so much public money.
The supplier is saying in effect, it's an illusion: 1. false idea or belief that doesn't jibe with the facts; 2. unreal, deceptive, or misleading appearance or image.
Not a dumb defense. Indeed, there are cases when what you see misleads or deceives.
You see household help massaging your husband or the temp on her knees fixing the boss's fly. It may really be not what you think it is. The man may have broken a leg. A stapler may have caught with the guy's zipper.
Not dumb
Is that the case with the decor lamps DPWH bought for Cebu City, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu that hosted Asean summit last January?
If it's an illusion, the public has been deluded since they saw the lamps. People looked at them and inquired about the cost. "P85,000 per unit? Overpriced!"
When they learned later that many lamps cost much more (over P300,000 each), they were stunned, shocked, stupefied. "Outrageous overprice. Atrocious greed."
Not dumb defense. Supplier must think the people are so dumb they can't recognize fraud even if their life depended on it.
"Circuit kilometer" costing when contract says pricing is per unit? That crap stinks a kilometer away.
When someone says, "Dahling, you're not fat. You just look fat," wallop him with one of those lamps.
