Wednesday, June 04, 2008 Cebu City experiments, Talisay limits use of air-con as cost-cutting measures
TWO more local government units (LGUs) are implementing measures to cushion the impact of the continuous fuel price increases.
For its part, the Cebu Provincial Government has yet to discuss how it will heed Malacañang’s call to conserve energy, although it has implemented energy conservation measures before.
“No enercon (energy conservation) measures have been implemented at the Capitol pending discussion and instruction from the governor,” Bernard Calderon, officer-in-charge of the Provincial General Services Office (PGSO), told Sun.Star Cebu.
Calderon said the matter would probably be taken up when the governor arrives from Europe, where she and several Provincial Board members are promoting Cebu’s furniture and tourism industries.
In Cebu City’s case, City Hall won’t cut down fuel allocations for all departments and barangays, to make sure that services continue to be delivered to the public
efficiently.
Mayor Tomas Osmeña said he has always preferred to have City Hall and barangay officials going to their constituents in the villages instead of just staying in their offices doing nothing.
Experiment
To check if using liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) for City Government vehicles would help cut cost, the mayor experimented with one vehicle and had it converted to
enable the use of LPG.
“We’re not going to cut down on fuel allocation. We tried and experimented with LPG and sure, we’ll be able to save on fuel but it didn’t reach a point where I’ll mandate that we convert all our vehicles to LPG,” said the mayor.
The City has increased its monthly allocation for fuel from P5 million to P8.2 million as of May to cope with the increase in the prices of fuel.
The amount covers fuel allocation for all 600 City-owned vehicles, including dump trucks used for garbage collection, the multicabs used in the barangays and the vans assigned to the police department.
Although he welcomed the suggestion of a Cabinet official, Osmeña said that having public officials ride public utility vehicles could affect their efficiency in performing
their duties.
“I don’t mind. Sometimes when I’m in the downtown area, I ride the jeepney or taxi, that’s not a problem. But how can you be effective in your job if you have to rely on
the schedule of public transportation?” he said.
Talisay City, on the other hand, has been shutting down its air conditioning systems one hour before closing time.
No air-con
Even before President Arroyo’s renewed calls for belt-tightening measures, Mayor Socrates Fernandez already issued last year an executive order directing all department heads to shut off air conditioners one hour before 5 p.m.
In the absence of a monitoring team, department heads are tasked to implement the mayor’s cost-cutting scheme, said City Administrator Richel Bacaltos.
Fernandez himself has refused to use his office’s air-conditioning unit and instead throws open all the large French windows in his office.
Department heads also don’t rely as much on air conditioning during their weekly meetings; these are turned on only if the meeting lasts until noon and the climate gets hotter.
Other austerity measures at the Talisay City Hall include prohibiting employees from playing computer games at noon break, turning off extra lights, and avoiding unnecessary trips of employees using government vehicles.
Fare hike
Meanwhile, several groups of tricycle drivers in Talisay have requested for a P2 fare increase and P0.50 for every succeeding kilometer to offset the rising cost of fuel.
They also cited the high prices of spare parts, oil and other commodities incidental to their daily operations.
“Imagine, during our last request for an increase in minimum fare to P6, the price of gasoline was then P35 per liter,” read the April 14 letter of tricycle drivers to the City Council.
The council, in its session yesterday, decided to hold a public hearing before tackling the matter at the session hall.
Initially, Councilor Shirley Belleza, the majority floor leader, preferred that the City Government follow the decision of the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory
Board.
If the request is approved, the present minimum fare of P6 in Talisay would become P8. (LCR/GC/GMD)
