Saturday, October 20, 2007 I’ll accept cash from Palace: Tomas
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said that if offered cash gift by Malacañang, he would accept it provided there’s no strings attached.
“Mopili pa ta? Ni-offer na sila og kwarta. There are many ways to spend the money, like watch shows in Las Vegas, which can’t be charged to my discretionary funds. I once got P100,000 award for being outstanding mayor. I just deposited it against my unliquidated balance in City Hall,” he said.
Instead of paying attention to reports of Malacañang giving cash gifts to congressmen and other local officials, Cebuanos should worry about themselves, Osmeña.
Self-reliant
“Let me tell you that my basic orientation is that I don’t care. We have this tendency to be drawn into the storm of what goes on in Manila. If I will be reactive to those things, I will only lose my sense of self-reliance,” the mayor told reporters yesterday.
Osmeña, fresh from a trip abroad, challenged the public to become masters of their future “by worrying about what is happening here (in Cebu).”
He said that while there is also corruption in Cebu, “it is not a major issue.”
He admitted receiving offers of cash gifts, but that he would always refuse because there were strings attached.
Osmeña said Malacañang invited him to an emergency meeting last Oct. 11. He was not able to make it because he left for the US last Oct. 4. He reported back to City Hall yesterday.
After the meeting, cash was reportedly distributed to congressmen and local officials. Oriental Negros Gov. Emilio Macias and Pampanga Gov. Ed Panlilio declared they received P200,000 and P500,000, respectively.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia said she only got a cake and a leather organizer for her birthday from President Gloria Arroyo last Oct. 12.
Cebu City Rep. Antonio Cuenco earlier confessed he received P250,000 from Mala-cañang but later said he was only joking. Osmeña said Cuenco has a “lousy sense of humor.”
Some opposition officials said this alleged bribery will add to the reasons Arroyo to be impeached. (NRC)
