Tuesday, October 23, 2007 Speak out: Respect By Ida Krigh Cebu
THIS is referring to an article published in Sun.Star Cebu last Sunday, which states: “But City Administrator Teodulo Ybañez appealed for respect, particularly from the Cebu Provincial Government, for Lapu-Lapu’s independence and its officials’ exercise of their ‘prerogatives.’
‘As an independent local government unit (LGU), they should look at us as an entity enforcing our local laws. It would have been tyranny if we did it without any legal basis. And if the provincial officials want us to explain why it had reached that point, we will be glad to do it,’ Ybañez said.”
City Administrator Ybañez must realize that respect is something you earn to deserve, not something you appeal for or demand from others.
Lapu-Lapu City’s independence and “its officials’ exercise of their prerogatives” are not to be mistaken as synonymous to being above the law and the absence of accountability to the people when they demand some explanation and answers.
It’s not just higher provincial officials who want Lapu-Lapu City officials to explain, but the ordinary people on the streets, together with the business community —both sectors that have been antagonized by their attempted closure of Marina Mall last Friday.
Ever since the scandal of the computers started, we have waited for the city administration’s detailed explanation against the accusations, even as they finally landed in court proceedings. But any convincing justification and arguments to counter the allegations and accusations against the mayor’s office have yet come, up to now.
The City’s short-lived attempt to close Efrain Pelaez Jr.’s establishments, while at the same time nitpicking the technicalities behind the words “demolition” and “closure,” have now angered the ordinary Juan and Juana whose livelihood were affected by the move. Such is hardly a positive message to them who are struggling to earn a decent living so that their lives won’t begin and end up in the slum areas for which Lapu-Lapu City has an abundance of.
It is bad enough that the City Government has locked horns with the business community, which is providing the lifeblood of the city and its people. Last Friday’s incident at Marina Mall, has also earned the City the ire of common residents and workers who only want to earn an honest and decent living.
