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Saturday, March 31, 2007
Lapu mayor yields to suspension; Ouano resists
By Oscar C. Pineda & Isolde D. Amante
CEBU CITY -- Two Metro Cebu mayors decided Friday to fight an Ombudsman order preventively suspending them, without pay, for six months while they answer charges provoked by the purchase of expensive street lamps.
But while it was almost business as usual in Lapu-Lapu City, an irate crowd effectively blocked the way to the mayor's office in Mandaue, displaying placards that attacked the "vigilante justice" dispensed by the anti-graft office.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
Lapu-Lapu's Mayor Arturo Radaza received the suspension order and temporarily handed over control of City Hall-with a kiss on the cheek for good measure-to Vice Mayor Norma Patalinjug, his challenger in the May 14 elections. They even posed for pictures.
Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano made no public appearance, even as his supporters blocked the stairs to his second-floor office, and the driveway was barred by a government-owned dump truck and a backhoe.
Before noon, Ouano's lawyers filed a petition for injunction and asked for a temporary restraining order (TRO) on his suspension. But because no one was present to receive the suspension order earlier in the day, one City Hall official had to go to the ombudsman to get a copy, which they needed to attach to their petition.
Radaza, in a separate interview, said he also asked his legal advisers to file a similar petition, but in the meantime, "Magsugod na ta'g kampanya. Kampanya na man ta karon di ba? (I might as well start campaigning)."
Black mark
The Office of the Ombudsman has ordered the preventive suspension of nine executives of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), Mayors Ouano and Radaza, and eight other officials of the Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City engineering offices.
It reported "strong evidence of guilt" that some 2,300 street lamps bought for the international summits last January were "highly overpriced."
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said she is saddened by what could be called a "black mark" on the "Cebuanos' finest hour" for successfully hosting the Asean and East Asia summits.
"I understand this would elicit very strong feelings from both supporters and non-supporters alike of both chief executives. Let us all keep calm and let the rule of law prevail," said the governor.
"Let's not get political here and let's talk about what has happened and how we should react to the situation," added Garcia, who served as co-chairperson of the summit's Cebu Organizing Committee.
Unless Ouano obtains a TRO from the appeals court, he will have to yield to Vice Mayor Amadeo Seno Jr., who is also running for mayor against Ouano's son Thadeo Jovito. Ouano has been mayor for nearly nine years.
Day one
Instead of hitting the streets to win voters, supporters of the administration ticket in both cities spent part of the first day of the official campaign period camped out in front of City Hall.
In both cities, supporters were in place by the time the workday began. But the tension was more pronounced in Mandaue City.
In Lapu-Lapu, Radaza's supporters wore red armbands but stood quietly in the lobby while the suspension order was served.
In Mandaue, a crowd that police estimated at 5,000 blocked anyone who tried to approach City Hall's second level, where the executive and legislative offices are located. Many of them sported yellow armbands. The crowd was calmer and smaller by midday, but still sat outside City Hall, under large white tents marked with their mayor's name.
Radaza had told his staff to alert him once the suspension order arrived, so he could receive it himself.
"Nagdali dali man kuno ang messenger, mura ba'g nahadlok kay basin magubot ba, mao tong di sad ta ka blame nila (The messenger was in a hurry, and probably afraid that there might be trouble. I can't really blame him)," he told reporters.
"Sa ako diri, di gyud mi gusto nga magubot (We just don't want any trouble here)," said Radaza.
Antics
City Engineer Julito Cuizon told Sun.Star he received the suspension order past 9 a.m. Friday. So did assistant city engineer Fernando Tagaan and Rogelio Veloso.
Radaza then went around the building, shaking hands with department heads, employees and constituents. His last destination was the vice mayor's office.
Radaza shook hands with Patalinjug and her running mate, Councilor Eugene Espedido, had himself photographed between them, then suddenly kissed Patalinjug on the cheek.
The crowd cheered. But as Radaza looked at Espedido, the candidate quipped, "Ayaw ko'g kissi, ha? (Don't kiss me, okay?)"
Blame DPWH
Mandaue City Director Lilibeth Famacion of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) told Sun.Star she tried persuading administration councilors to get the supporters to disband, but they reportedly insisted what the crowd formed was "not a barricade, but a peaceful picket."
By mid-afternoon, Famacion still had not received word from the DILG regional office about whether a team was on its way with an order to enforce the six-month preventive suspension.
Of the ones suspended, it's those officials at DPWH that ought to be raked over the coals for the purchase, said Mandaue City Councilor Carlo Pontico Fortuna, in an interview outside City Hall.
He questioned the "undue haste" in the proceedings, pointing out that the Visayas ombudsman's fact-finding panel didn't even bother to summon Ouano or give him time "to pursue legal remedies." Fortuna is a vice mayoral candidate and the running mate of Ouano's son Thadeo Jovito.
Cooler heads
He added that while the administration ticket agreed Thursday night to "focus on the campaign"-by then, word of the preventive suspension order had spread-they couldn't go out Friday "because our people are here to defend the mayor."
Ouano's son Thadeo Jovito thanked the family's supporters and expressed confidence that his father can defend himself.
"I am very confident of the legal process, therefore I am appealing to our diehard supporters, particularly that of my father and grandfather, let us abide with the legal process," the younger Ouano said in a press statement.
To placate the crowd, his grandfather, former mayor Alfredo "Pedong" Ouano, also visited City Hall, thanking his son's supporters, by 2:25 p.m. "Mamahulay na ta ug salamat sa inyong kadasig ug sakripisyo (Let's get some rest, and thank you for your enthusiasm and sacrifice)," he told the crowd, most of whom stayed up late the previous night for a vigil.
In a brief interview, the former mayor said he hopes that the ombudsman will give his son Thadeo the chance to explain his side on the alleged controversy.
He pointed to the DPWH as the one who called for the bidding, who awarded the project to the winning contractor and who paid the contractor. (Sun.Star Cebu/With JPM)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Zamboanga. (March 31, 2007 issue)
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