Wednesday, September 12, 2007 Talk back: Lapu spin doctors at work By Efrain T. Pelaez, Jr. President, Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry Phils., Inc.
THIS is a reaction to two articles that appeared in Sun.Star Cebu recently. One was a report that the Lapulapu City was commended by the DENR for their Solid Waste Management facility. The other was captioned Trader Should Stop Mudslinging, quoting Mayor Boy Radaza.
It looks like Radaza’s spin doctors are diligently at work to counter all the negative news about his administration and poor governance.
It seems he has now asked his Vice Mayor Amores to explain the activities and programs of the City. Vice Mayor Amores seems to be a level headed official who I know is not part of Radaza’s inner circle.
If he is now being relied on to run the city and explain what the new administration is doing, it might be better if Radaza step down and resign. He would be doing Lapu-Lapu City a big favor. We would be more than happy to work with Amores.
To be sure, however, complying with the Solid Waste Management (SWM) program of the DENR is one thing. Picking up the garbage is another.
I will happily give Radaza a garbage tour of his own city. If the SWM compliance on sanitary landfill is true, it is a belated one and in fact does not extinguish his criminal liability for violating it in the first place.
Why are they boasting about a compliance that should have been done years ago? And so what if we now have an SWM facility if the garbage is left to rot in the streets of Lapulapu anyway?
Radaza on the other hand, has said nothing substantive, except make personal attacks against me and my companies. He has also tried to cast doubt on the validity and clout of our Chamber, saying it is composed mostly of tenants of our Marina Mall.
This only goes to show how intellectually bankrupt his arguments are. Not only are the statements untrue, they have nothing to do with the issues of corruption, garbage, tong collection, overpricing of lamp posts, squatters, delayed permits and other serious allegations against him or his administration which he does not reply to.
Attacking me, the messenger, and the most visibly vocal individual in the Chamber, does not change the message. We have opened a can of worms, and the worms are now spilling out looking for their hosts in City Hall. No amount of squid tactics, spin or sanitizing will change that.
Recently, Mactan Marina Mall, one of my enterprises, has seen a renewed and vigorous campaign by over zealous agents of the city from tax mapping, garbage segregation and other similar city agencies. They are quick to investigate and issue citations.
I wonder if other malls and commercial centers including the Radaza Plaza in Central Opon, as well as other businesses and properties owned by Radaza and his friends, are similarly being monitored.
I also wonder if he is paying anywhere near the taxes that my companies and enterprises have paid in the last 25 years, or made a difference in the lives of over 1000 employees that those companies have employed in the same period using private funds—not the public funds that he dispenses to buy lamp posts.
I have brought hundreds of millions in investment to Mactan. If Radaza wants to compare himself or his administration to my record, he is welcome. But he better be man enough to come out in the open and honestly open his books including his regular betting journal at the cockpits.
