Monday, September 29, 2008 Additional P313T sought for TV ads
A CEBU City councilor will again ask for funding for the television iring of a new set of dengue advisories, saying proper procedures will be followed this time.
Councilor Gerardo Carillo said City Hall is now preparing the second batch of commercials that aim to educate the public on what to do when they are suspected to have the dengue fever virus.
Some P313,600 will be needed for the airing fee for the second phase of the City’s anti-dengue information campaign, the same amount proposed for the first phase.
Carillo withdrew the resolution charging the amount to the City’s calamity funds after the mayor decided to use private funds to pay for ABS-CBN Cebu’s airing fee.
This, after commercials were aired without a bidding and without approval from the City Council.
“I will file the resolution again for the second phase of the commercials and that will go through the process, meaning muagi na sa (it will go through the) council before the airing,” Carillo told Sun.Star Cebu.
The Cebu City Disaster Coordinating Council (CCDCC), he said, will allocate funds for the airing service fee, but it will be up to the executive department whether or not it will hold a bidding for it.
Two weeks after the council tackled the resolution, he said a competitive bidding might not have been necessary since the airing service fee will be charged to the calamity funds, and the project was an emergency one.
“There is a law that allows the mayor to choose a TV station of his own preference and there is no need for bidding because there is a state of calamity, although the contract should have gone through the council for approval before the airing. But I did not know that they already went ahead with the airing before the council can act on it,” he said.
The first batch of commercials showed the public the “dengue scare” and how fast the virus can kill patients of all ages and backgrounds.
For the next batch of advertisements, the City hopes to educate the public on the signs and symptoms of dengue fever and the immediate steps they will need to take once the symptoms set in.
The commercials will also inform the public of the free services available at the Cebu City Medical Center and the barangay health centers for dengue patients, including the complete blood count and other blood tests.
All the 30-second commercials were produced for free by the International Academy of Film and Television, the film school of Bigfoot Global Solutions. (LCR)
