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Thursday, September 25, 2008
Council wants controversial lampposts removed
CEBU CITY -- Because the allegedly overpriced lampposts are "symbols of corruption," the Cebu City Council wants all decorative lampposts bought for the Asean summit removed from the city's streets immediately.
The council created a task force headed by City Administrator Francisco Fernandez, who was asked to find out how City Hall can go about the removal of the posts.
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It also authorized the task force to implement the actual dismantling and removal of the lampposts as soon as it is already feasible to do so.
For Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the street lamps are better left in the evidence room of the courts, and not displayed in the streets of the city.
However, Legal Officer Augustinito Hermoso of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH)-Central Visayas said the Cebu City Government has no legal authority to remove the decorative lampposts.
These were installed along national roads managed by the DPWH.
Also, most of the lampposts still belong to the private contractors and suppliers, after the DPWH paid only 15 percent of the project cost.
"The City should remember that there is still no court decision that will show that the project is illegal," Hermoso said.
Less than two years after they were installed, the posts are now corroded, their colors faded and their bodies pilfered or mangled by vandals and scrap dealers.
"Slim and small as they are, we can all agree that they represent corruption in a gigantic and scandalous proportion. Eye-catching they may appear but ugly heads are yet to roll for their anomalous acquisition," Rama said in a privilege speech during the session Wednesday.
Last April, the Office of the Ombudsman ordered 18 of the 24 officials who were impleaded in the purchase of the allegedly overpriced lampposts sacked from government service for grave misconduct. They included former Mandaue City mayor Thadeo Ouano.
That sanction came from the administrative aspect of the case.
Tanodbayan Merceditas Gutierrez also ordered the filing of criminal charges before the Sandiganbayan against 21 officials for violating the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act. Recently, however, the charges were withdrawn for reinvestigation.
While no final ruling is in yet, the Cebu City Council believes the presence of the controversial lamps is a "bad reminder of the kind of governance that those unscrupulous officials have demonstrated and exemplified."
Rama said that while they can look their constituents in the eye and say that they were not involved in the purchase of the lamps and did not receive a single centavo from it, visitors who know of the controversy may think otherwise.
"Mr. Chairman, we have to have these posts removed as soon as possible for we don't deserve them and it has no place inside our territorial jurisdiction. We have to uproot these 'kenkoy' lampposts that are, ironically, a reflection of how dim our future could get if and when corrupt people are elected and hired in government service," Rama said.
He lamented that while thousands of Cebuanos contributed in their own way to make last year's Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean) summit successful, "some of our public officials are callous enough to betray the public trust by misappropriating the money of our taxpayers."
In an interview after the council session, Rama said he has long wanted to ask for the removal of the lamps but it was only recently that he was reminded of it.
He said he brought it up to the mayor's attention and the latter agreed. (LCR/With EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)
For more Philippine news, visit Sun.Star Dumaguete. (September 25, 2008 issue)
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