Friday, March 23, 2007 Mayors’ feud spills over to market
IF CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña is to be believed, it is not only the streetlamps in Mandaue City that are overpriced.
Osmeña said that authorities and the people of Mandaue should also take a look at the Mandaue City public market, whose construction cost has already ballooned to P20,000 per square meter.
But Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano said in a phone interview yesterday that there is no overpricing in the construction of the public market.
“I am not an engineer. The City Hall engineers prepared the details of the market. If he wants, I can present them to explain. Tomas is all-knowing. Mura na siya og ginoo,” Ouano told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Mandaue City Government has spent about P100 million for the first phase of the market, which covered the structure’s foundation.
Early this year, the City Council ratified the P379-million loan agreement between the City and the Development Bank of the Philippines. The money will be used for phase two of the two-story market, which spans one hectare at the Mandaue Reclamation Area.
But Osmeña said the unfinished public market should be compared with the Parklane Hotel on Escario St., which he said was constructed at P21,000 per square meter.
But unlike the market, the hotel has subterranean parking lots, elevators, escalators and a swimming pool.
“Their market is getting more and more expensive, I heard it’s P20,000 per square meter. Parklane is around the same, P21,000 per square meter. But compare the hotel with Mandaue’s public market and ask how much it is. Does it look anything like Parklane?” Osmeña said.
Mayors and accounting
In his news conference yesterday, the mayor denied that Cebu City officials connived with businessman Crisologo Saavedra in the filing of the plunder case against Ouano.
Ouano earlier said the documents supporting the case were prepared in City Councilor Sylvan Jakosalem’s office, which the councilor also denied.
“None, we don’t have any participation in that. But even if there were, so what? Does it mean he’s not guilty? Let’s presume he’s correct, does that make him guilty or not guilty? What kind of logic is that?” said Osmeña.
Osmeña also said he is prepared to undergo the same scrutiny Ouano is facing in relation to the alleged overpricing of the streetlamps bought for the Asean summit.
Aside from Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu City was also a recipient of the decorative streetlamps.
But unlike Ouano who has not published a detailed accounting of their disbursements for the summit, Osmeña said he is not afraid to be transparent about Cebu City’s summit expenses.
In an earlier interview, Ouano said he will come out with full-page advertisements explaining Mandaue’s involvement in the purchase of the allegedly overpriced lampposts.
The Mandaue City Hall prepared the program of works and estimates for the streetlamps that cost between P85,000 and P350,000 each.
Cebu City Hall public information officer Nagiel Bañacia said that while they received the lamps from the Department of Public Works and Highways, they did not ask for the lamps.
A list of needed equipment and supplies was submitted to the Asean summit national organizing committee when the latter asked what they will need as host city.
Bañacia said they later withdrew the request but eventually accepted them. (LCR/CPG)
