Sunday, August 17, 2008 Malilong: Another round of failure? By Frank Malilong The Other Side
THE case that some residents of Compostela filed against their vice mayor and three councilors bears watching. As far as I can remember, this is the first time, at least in Cebu, that the people have sued their officials in order to compel them to perform a duty.
When candidates offer themselves to the people in an election, they promise to serve them. When they take their oath of office, they swear to perform all the duties of their position.
The Local Government Code is specific that the municipal council shall pass its budget within a particular period. If it fails to do so, then the town will be forced to operate under the previous year’s budget, a situation that can prove to be harmful to the people because it restricts the government’s capability to address new needs and requirements.
In some cases, questions on the propriety or wisdom of certain items in the budget can delay its approval. We can understand that. But when the council refuses to meet to deliberate on the budget, some people have to be called to account for the nonfeasance. It’s as simple as that.
Hopefully, with the filing of the case before the Ombudsman, we will soon find out whether the Compostela vice mayor and his allies in the council merely wanted more time to ensure that the people’s money is not wasted or were out to sabotage the programs of the town mayor, who is their political enemy.
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Who manufactured the swimsuits that our tankers wore for the Olympic competitions? Did our officials buy them from the stalls selling cheap Chinese-made items in Binondo and Divisoria and pass them off to our athletes and the cashier as brand new?
The report coming from Beijing that the swim gear of Christel Simms and Ryan Arabejo ripped before they could splash into the pool is most embarrassing. How could it have happened? Or to put it more bluntly, how could our sports officials have allowed it to happen?
I know that even if they wore the same Speedo gear that Michael Phelps is using in breaking the world record in all the events that he has won, our swimmers would still not have figured prominently in the medal chase. But that is not the point. They were asked to carry the colors of the country and they tried their best.
If our sports officials couldn’t afford to buy the latest gear because 1) we are cash-strapped or 2) the money for uniforms went elsewhere, they could just have as well borrowed the G-strings that one mayor from the Ifugao region wore to Mrs. Arroyo’s State of the Nation Address. That certainly would have been more durable.
I’m sure we will soon hear excuses from them. We’re so good at it that if “passing the buck” were to be added as an event in the Olympics we will sweep the medals from gold to bronze.
Remember what happened in the last Southeast Asian Games? Our officials ordered or at least authorized a boycott of the boxing finals because the host Thais allegedly cheated our boys out of victory in previous fights.
Cheated, my foot! Not only did the Thais qualify more boxers to the Olympics, a number of them are poised to win medals while we could only send one who eventually lost to an unfancied opponent from Ghana.
If our athletes can’t bring home a medal from Beijing, let’s mint special ones for our officials instead to celebrate another round of failure.
