Friday, January 04, 2008 Gwen open to a dialog with Leo on CICC cost
GOV. Gwendolyn Gar-cia extended an invitation to broadcaster and columnist Leo Lastimosa for an accounting of what it cost the Province to build the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC).
Lastimosa, in his column in yesterday’s issue of The Freeman, said the governor has refused to release all the documents on the CICC expenses, more than a year after the structure was completed.
Garcia, through lawyer and consultant Rory Jon Sepulveda, said this was already a closed issue.
Still, Sepulveda urged Lastimosa to visit the Capitol’s accountant to seek the documents he is looking for. But to further open the Capitol’s doors to Lastimosa, Sepulveda said the broadcaster can seek an appointment with the governor.
“Personal nga i-hubad og usab sa gobernador kadtong expenses sa CICC nga nahubad na sa gobernador adtong Mayo 2007 (The governor will personally explain the CICC expenses that she already discussed last May 2007),” Sepulveda told reporters yesterday.
“Personal para sa imoha, Mr. Lastimosa,” Sepulveda said.
In May 2007, the governor hosted a public forum in which she explained that the CICC cost the Province P581 million.
By late June 2007, however, Sepulveda said that as a “worst-case scenario”, the cost of building the CICC could hit P793 million—although the Capitol was still verifying the final billing statement sent by WT Construction.
Told about the invitation, Lastimosa yesterday said he would prefer to have coffee with the governor over a personal accounting of the CICC expenses.
“I’m not an accountant...but we can have coffee and discuss our relationship,” Lastimosa told Sun.Star Cebu in a mobile phone interview.
He explained that he would rather that Garcia would make a public accounting than a personal one with him, because all Cebuano taxpayers are involved in the building of the CICC.
“That is not what is right and proper,” he said of the one-on-one accounting. “What makes me special?”
Lastimosa believes that what the governor gave last May was not a “truthful” accounting of the building expenses, but rather an “estimate” of the total cost.
He also wants the bidding documents disclosed and urged the Capitol to have such documents turned over to the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas so it can go on with its investigation.
“I will buy her coffee so I can explain to her that I’m just doing my job,” Lastimosa also said.
When asked if he was confident that a dialogue with Lastimosa would put an end to the rift between the broadcaster and the governor, Sepulveda said, “Confident mi nga mabisto ang mabisto...mabisto ba namo ang iyang intention o gipanigta (We are confident that his real intentions will be revealed).”
(Lastimosa’s column yesterday was titled, “Mabisto na kaha?”)
Lastimosa, however, said: “I’m not asking for an accounting for myself. This is for the public, not for me.” (JGA)
