Wednesday, September 26, 2007 Editorial: Radaza-Pelaez verbal exchange
THE camp of Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza has lashed back at businessman Efrain Pelaez of the Mactan Island Chamber of commerce and Industry.
After Pelaez, through the Coralpoint Educational Foundation, sued Radaza and other officials for the supposedly irregular purchase of computers, Radaza’s camp raised an accusation of its own, calling Pelaez tax evader and owner of a bogus foundation.
If Pelaez can hurl accusations, then he surely can take counter-accusations, too.
By tangling with City Hall, he must have been prepared to face the consequences of his move, which would include the targeting of his person and his businesses.
Not productive
While the mayor is known to shun reporters, he has the resources at his disposal, including lawyers and City Hall’s p.r. machinery to counter Pelaez’s offensive.
But Pelaez is not totally helpless because, by tangling with an administration that has already been hounded with accusations of corrupt acts even before he came into the picture, many people see him as occupying the high ground in the conflict.
A torrid exchange of punches, however, may not be productive in the long run because it deflects public attention away from the substance of the claims raised.
Emotionalism
The Chamber, for example, was initially on the right track when it raised legitimate concerns like corruption and other problems that could stymie the economic development of Lapu-Lapu especially in the promotion of tourism.
Somewhere along the way, however, and partly because of the maneuvering by Radaza’s camp, the attempt at fiscalizing ended up becoming a Radaza-Pelaez exchange.
Instead of a sober presentation of issues, emotionalism has taken over.
Substance
What can be considered a positive point there is that, at least on the alleged overpriced purchase of computers, the Office of the Ombudsman has been forced to take a greater role, which would ensure that evidence, not verbal fire, will guide its resolution.
Still, it would be better if the effort at fiscalizing in Lapu-Lapu would focus more on the substance of the criticisms and less on the intensity of the verbal exchange.
