Wednesday, July 23, 2008 Tomas rejects Interpol plea
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has turned down the International Police’s (Interpol) request to fund P1.7 million worth of equipment and supplies for the mobile morgue.
Osmeña said that Sulpicio Lines Inc. (SLI) should shoulder the expenses.
Cebu City Administrator Francisco Fernandez said the mayor received the request, coursed through Vice Mayor Michael Rama and the Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC), last Monday afternoon.
But the mayor declined, saying the City Government should not be the one to spend for it.
As requested by the Interpol, Councilor Gerardo Carillo proposed the emergency purchase of steel tables, steel sinks, air conditioning units, electric fans, protective suits and other supplies to be used by the forensics team when they process some 500 more bodies inside the mobile morgue.
“It is not proper to use the City’s tax money for Sulpicio’s problems. We originally spent for food and the action center operations because the victims’ families were neglected and many are our constituents,” Osmeña said in a text message sent to Sun.Star Cebu.
City Hall has so far appropriated P4.6 million for the operations of the action center and financial assistance to the families of the victims of the mv Princess of the Stars sinking last June 21.
The purchases requested by the Interpol were supposed to be charged to the City’s calamity funds but Carillo said they will now be asking the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) to shoulder P1.1 million of the total amount.
“I learned that we are being asked to shoulder the expenses for the equipment and after the bodies are processed, Interpol will turn over the morgue to us, but that is not clear yet. And personally, I don’t think we need it. They might also use it for other disasters in other countries,” Fernandez told reporters.
Purchases
The Interpol requested the purchase of 24 units of stainless steel working tables amounting to P579,660, eight stainless steel sinks with tables costing P130,000, two air conditioning units amounting to P31,070, eight floor-mounted air conditioning units amounting to P486,512, 12 units of electric fans at P41,340 and 1,000 pieces of protection suits at P350,000 and the installation cost of the air conditioning system at P90,000.
In a separate interview yesterday, Vice Mayor Rama said the Interpol and the CCDCC decided to ask for financial assistance from the City Government after SLI expressed difficulty in shouldering the cost of the supplies.
The supplies will be used for the processing of more than 500 bodies that are expected to be recovered when the vessel is refloated next month.
“It’s not that they don’t want to shoulder it but their expenses have been increasing, especially with the refloating of the vessel...They are not comfortable to assume the cost. Interpol also cannot spend for it, and without action from Sulpicio, they thought of asking for help from the City,” said Rama.
Help
Yesterday, however, Carillo said a private company pledged to provide the steel tables and sinks, allowing them to reduce the cost of the supplies needed to P959,222.
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Felix Guanzon reportedly assured the group that he will bring the matter up to the NDCC.
“We have to ask the NDCC for help because SLI already said that they are not in the financial position to respond to the needs of the Interpol. They are already financially drained. According to them, they will concentrate their resources on the refloating of the vessel, on retrieving the bodies and the payment of claims,” Carillo told Sun.Star Cebu.
Besides, he said the NDCC needs to be tapped for financial help considering that some of the bodies retrieved by SLI from the sea are victims from other fishing vessels. (LCR)
