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Thursday, April 05, 2007
Acting Lapu, Mandaue mayors start working
By Aledel Gonzales-Cuizon
With Oscar C. Pineda
CEBU CITY -- Assessing City Hall operations was the first order of business for Acting Mandaue City Mayor Amadeo Seno Jr. and Acting Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Norma Patalinjug, who got a sample yesterday of the office they are both running for in the May 14 elections.
For a first day, it was tough.
Pinoy Votes: Sun.Star Election 2007 Coverage
Even as both acting mayors enforced the preventive suspension of some engineering department officials, Seno and Patalinjug also had to assure other employees that they had nothing to worry about.
Seno was surprised to find out that the City Government has yet to release assistance to the hundreds of families left homeless during the fire that hit Barangays Mantuyong and Guizo last March 7.
Delays in validating names and canvassing for construction materials were the reasons City Social Welfare Officer Candida Comaingking gave Seno.
Seno told Comaingking that the City Council even “bent the rules” to accommodate an allocation of some P14.7 million from the City’s calamity funds.
Shed light
Seno was sworn in to head City Hall Wednesday after Mayor Thadeo Ouano was served a six-month preventive suspension order.
Last Tuesday, Patalinjug also took over from Mayor Arturo Radaza, who was also suspended along with Ouano and 17 other local public officials, after the Office of the Ombudsman found that “the lighting facilities, as acquired and/or paid for by the government, were highly overpriced.”
About 2,300 lamps and streetlights, costing about P365.8 million, were installed in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu.
Patalinjug served the suspension order Wednesday morning on City Engineer Julito Cuizon, Assistant City Engineer Fernando Tagaan Jr. and Engineer IV Rogelio Veloso.
The anti-graft office’s suspension order on the City Government officials in Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu was implemented by the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Nine officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways 7, including Regional Director Robert Lala, were also suspended without pay for six months.
No changes
Although Lapu-Lapu City Hall was open for half a day only because of the Lenten break, Patalinjug met with all department heads from 10:30 a.m. until noon.
During the meeting, she assured the officials that there will be “no changes at this time.”
Both Ouano and Radaza have filed petitions for injunction at the appellate court to stop their suspension. The court has yet to rule on their petitions.
Seno, who is running for mayor against Ouano’s son, Jovito “Jonkie” Ouano, also met with City Hall department heads Wednesday, after he swore in Councilor Jonas Cortes as acting vice mayor.
Cortes is also Seno’s rival in the mayoral race.
Seno said he will retain the staff at the Office of the Mayor because they are more familiar with procedures in the office.
But in a separate interview, City Administrator Serafin Blanco said he is taking a “much-needed” break starting next week until June.
Fire victims
Blanco said he filed for his leave last month yet. Since he was appointed city administrator, he said he has not been taken a leave.
Seno also implemented the suspension orders on five officials of the City Engineer’s Office: City Engineer Hidelisa Latonio, Gregorio Omo, Mario Gerolaga, Alfredo Sanchez and Rosalina Denique.
With the suspension of many officials in the City Engineer’s Office, Seno appointed engineer Dario Mago as acting head of office.
Seno also found out that the list of fire victims and other documents took a long time to process, even if the City Council held a special session just two days after the fire last March 7.
The resolution allocating the funds was transmitted in advance, or forwarded to the concerned offices even before the journal of the session was approved.
Also during Wednesday’s meeting, Seno was informed that the City has not paid a month’s rental for police vehicles, at over P700,000.
Challenging
The City’s contract with Rdak Transport Inc. was for the rental of police vehicles from Jan. 1 to March 31 but city officials said that when the vehicles were pulled out, City Hall still has not paid its dues for March.
City Police Director Alexander Abadinas raised the lack of vehicles because they need these for police visibility.
After Blanco made a phone call to an official of Rdak Wednesday afternoon, the police cars are expected to be back Thursday.
However, only the Nissan Terranos will be sent since funds available will not be enough to pay for the other vehicles.
As to the fire victims who are house owners, they can expect at least P8,000 worth of construction materials from City Hall.
More than a thousand house owners have been listed.
Schools division superintendent Serena Uy also commented during the meeting Wednesday that the fire victims who have been occupying the evacuation centers in public schools have to leave soon.
Uy said that the schools are being prepared because these are the poll centers in the May 14 elections.
She added that electricity bills have increased because the evacuees are using their appliances and even watch television early in the morning.
Seno admitted that his new responsibilities will leave him little time to campaign, but he is confident that the office only needs a good sense of time management. (Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Iloilo. (April 5, 2007 issue)
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