Wednesday, June 13, 2007 Building to start ‘anytime now’
THE fight between Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Lahug Barangay Captain Mary Ann de los Santos can be set aside for now, after the mayor yielded and agreed to start the construction of the school building.
Osmeña said yesterday that his threat to postpone the project was just a ploy to make Lahug residents aware that his administration has ongoing projects in Lahug.
But now that he has gotten his message across, he will be ready to sign the notice to proceed with the construction “anytime now.”
“I never intended to remove the funding for the Lahug school building because we don’t need the money to construct other school buildings. This is just my way of getting the attention of the Lahug residents. Only, I made it appear that I’m going to transfer the project to Talamban,” he told a news conference yesterday.
Osmeña said the City has some P130 million in unobligated funds for the school building program coming from various sources, including the Special Education Fund (SEF) and assistance from Malacañang. (The SEF represents one percent of the city’s real estate tax collections.)
He admitted that the pressure from the public stopped him from “prolonging the game.”
Games
“I wish I had the time to play games with Mary Ann, but I said, `Ah, let’s start the project na lang.’ I guess I already made my point that we gave projects to Lahug,” he said.
Joy Augustus Young, the mayor’s consultant on education, said the development will not affect the proposed construction of additional classrooms for Talamban and other neighboring barangays since it is already funded.
Pit-os Barangay Captain Nilo Tariman said they were already told that the construction of the classrooms in Lahug and Talamban might be done at the same time.
Osmeña, though, stood pat on his decision to require a written request from Lahug for any subsidy or projects from City Hall, so he has proof to show that the taxpayers in Lahug are getting their money’s worth.
In Lahug, the “Piso Mo, Eskwelahan Ko” fundraising project officially ended yesterday after de los Santos heard about the mayor’s pronouncement.
“It’s really a welcome move. I appreciate his reconsideration and I think he needs to be applauded for that. At least now we are done with that. He has made his decision and I am happy with it,” she said in a phone interview.
Donations
Since the City will start constructing the 20-classroom building, the funds raised will be deposited to the barangay’s bank account until they can discuss what to do with it, she added.
These donations include P5 million from the Provincial Government.
Osmeña said the City can always use donated funds and he welcomed any donation from Lahug officials.
He said, though, that the funds raised by the barangay officials are not needed for the project in Lahug to push through since it is already fully funded.
“I’m just stating there’s no way they can come into the project, but they can contribute funds... we’re certainly not going to let them take over the project. They can’t kick out the City in the project. If they want to contribute, they can just turn over donated money,” Osmeña said.
No return
De los Santos said they will consult some parties if they can use the money to repair school buildings or build more classrooms within the Lahug Elementary School.
Returning the money to the donors is not an option for now, she said, but they also cannot use it for another project since the funds were donated specifically for the construction of additional classrooms.
“We will study the matter carefully and make consultations if it’s okay to deviate from the specific purpose of the funds. We have to be very careful about this because this is money donated for a specific purpose,” de los Santos said. (LCR)
