Monday, October 06, 2008 Seares: Uprooting the ‘damn lampposts’ By Pachico A. Seares News Sense
THE Cebu City Council wants the lampposts on city sidewalks uprooted. The 668 lampposts were erected for the Asean Summit that Cebu hosted in 2007.
No fuss then about requiring a permit and banning the posts from center of sidewalks, the legalities bureaucrats now wave in the public’s face.
Nobody at the time bothered how much the posts cost, if safeguards were heeded, and whether thieves were gouging the treasury.
The summit was the excuse. Anyone who talked of COA rules was an obstructionist. Anything less than cheering for Cebu and its role as summit host was treasonous.
Yet, no one can say now, “I told you so.” All were seduced by the mantra of what’s-good-for-Cebu-can’t-be-wrong. Even media was limited to occasional sniping, distracted from the monstrous graft standing right there on sidewalks.
“Symbol of corruption”
Now the councilors, seeing the posts as “symbol of corruption,” want them removed. They must hate being reminded that in January last year they too hadn’t done anything to prevent the cheating.
Tear the posts down? They’re expensive property. And they can still be useful, if lighted and protected against vandals, along primary streets or in parks and plazas.
Besides, won’t the symbol of graft stir us, we who have become insensitive to looting of government funds?
Freeman editor Jerry Tundag tells me he saw an American paper display in its newsroom a large “invasion of privacy” photo whose publication cost it a huge amount in punitive damages.
Those “damn lampposts” scream the reminder for citizens to stay alert against corruption lurking in shadows.
