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Sunday, April 01, 2007
Lamps deal places Cebu in bad light: Vidal
By Jovy S. Taghoy & Jeanette P. Malinao
CEBU CITY -- The controversy on the allegedly overpriced purchase of lamps and streetlights disappointed Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal, who described it as “the summit of irregularity” that placed Cebu in a bad light.
The faithful, he said, must be contrite if they commit a sin, whether grave or petty.
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In his homily Saturday for the Feast of Blessed Pedro Calungsod, Cardinal Vidal said, “Sa ato pa nga moangkon kita sa dakong pagpaubos, nga kita makasasala. Masakpan kita o ma wala, ma-suspended kita o ma dili, ma pari kita o maparokyano, magmapa-ubsanon unta kita nga maghinulsul sa atong mga sala, ma dagko sila o ma gagmay.”
(We acknowledge that we commit sins. If we get caught or not, suspended or not, whether priest or parishioner, we must be humble and contrite for our sins, whether great or small.)
Also Saturday, gubernatorial candidate Rep. Antonio Yapha and his running mate, Rep. Clavel Martinez, crossed party lines to defend Mandaue City Mayor Thadeo Ouano.
Ouano, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza and 17 other public officials were ordered suspended last Thursday for six months, to give way to the ongoing investigation by the Office of the Ombudsman on their alleged participation in the lampposts deal.
Unfair
Yapha and Martinez both consider it “unfair” that only local officials are being prosecuted for the purchase, when the project came from the National Government.
Martinez said the filing of criminal and administrative charges was based only on the preliminary findings of the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas. Being summary in nature, its findings cannot be “totally conclusive.”
“It was just based on a possibility that there was a criminal offense and it is unfair that only two mayors got hit when they had no full and total control over the project, they were only at the receiving end,” she said.
Martinez, who is running against reelectionist Vice Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr., said the program of works of a national project is “usually” done and prepared at the national level and is only brought to the local level “for finality.”
With this, Yapha and Martinez said it is best for the anti-graft office to conduct a wider probe on the anomaly and include those responsible from “top to bottom and not just the bottom.”
Former public works and highways secretary Hermogenes Ebdane must be included, Martinez said.
More heads
“Fair is fair… With this sweeping conclusion and findings, naghatag ni ug pag daugdaug sa mga Sugbuanon (this persecutes Cebuanos). What we are saying here is that regardless of whether one is our partymate or not, di ta gusto nga ang Sugbo daug-daugon (we do not want anyone to trample on Cebu).”
Ouano is supporting the reelection bid of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, Yapha’s rival. Moreover, Yapha and Martinez do not think that the issue will affect the candidacy of Radaza, their ally.
“I don’t think it’s going to affect his leadership. He looked like he is unaffected,” said Martinez, citing several gatherings of support for Radaza.
Senatorial candidate Panfilo Lacson, who was in Cebu Saturday, hinted that more people in the Arroyo administration benefited from the “lamppost scam" and more officials should be punished.
Cardinal Vidal declined from commenting on the suspension of the 19 public officials “because it is not my field.”
What is important, he said, is that the people will find out the truth.
“We should always look for the truth,” the cardinal said.
Goodwill
When interviewed to comment further about his homily, Cardinal Vidal said, “I thought we are all very, very, very happy about the summit. Now, all of the sudden there is a summit of irregularity. I am really disappointed. How can we regain our name again?”
The Cebu archbishop said the controversy somehow affected the success and goodwill generated by the Asean summit “because, for example, if I were the delegate and I am honored, then all of the sudden I learn that what was offered to me was irregular. I would not be happy about it. It puts the country in a bad light.”
The cardinal said he feels for the local public officials who have been accused of irregularities in the P365.8-million purchase of lamps and streetlights for the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City.
He prays that they will cooperate in the investigation so the truth will come out.
“We pray that everything will come out in the truthful way. If there is an investigation, you cannot do anything but see it through,” the cardinal said.
The anti-graft office has said each lamp was priced “10 times more” than the actual cost. It based its finding on the cost of the lampposts as indicated in the programs of work and estimates (Powe) prepared by the City Governments of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and as reflected in the importation documents.
The most expensive item is the triple-arm streetlight put up in Mandaue. The import papers said it cost about P9,500 but the Powe priced it at P95,000. The approved contract cost, though, was about P325,000.
Ouano filed a petition for injunction before the Court of Appeals and asked for a temporary restraining order to stop his suspension. Radaza will likely follow suit. (Sun.Star Cebu)For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star General Santos. (April 1, 2007 issue)
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