Wednesday, August 13, 2008 Non-installation of past guvs' portraits hit
CITY OF SAN FERNANDO -- Weeks after saying that the Provincial Government would hang back the portraits of past Pampanga governors, Provincial Tourism Officer Ian Paulo Mejia has yet to abide by his promise.
Because of this, the Provincial Board (PB) said it is now determined to see the reinstallation of the portraits.
Irked by what they called as "utter disrespect to the memories of past governors," Board Member Crisostomo Garbo said they are wondering why the Provincial Government has yet to return the portraits to where they used to be installed.
Provincial Administrator Vivian Dabu earlier said that the portraits were "under renovation" and are under the care of the Provincial Tourism Office. The portraits were taken down from the Capitol building's second floor lobby late last year.
Although Dabu claimed that the portraits were kept in a safe place, a source here sent a photo to Sun.Star showing that the portraits were just placed in the ceiling storage area of the Benigno Aquino Hall with some seem stashed one after the other.
In recent interviews with Mejia, he said the return of the portraits was a requisite before the PB would look into their requested budget for the renovation of the portraits. The budget was reportedly pegged at P1 million.
But weeks after Mejia made a declaration to return the portraits, none has been hanged back at the second floor lobby.
Dabu also made a similar pronouncement in December last year. She said: "We are going to place them back but in a much better location. The former location is not a good site."
"This is utter disrespect to the memories of past governors. The families of these leaders as well are surely offended. The PB members being leaders themselves take offense on such treatment of the memories of past leaders," Garbo said.
During the PB regular session last Monday, Garbo made a motion to write the governor and Mejia regarding the still unreturned portraits.
"We will file appropriate sanctions if the portraits are not returned," the board member added.
Sun.Star tried to get Mejia's comment, but repeated calls to his office at the Benigno Aquino Hall were not immediately returned. A source said the Capitol official "has not been reporting to office" for a couple of weeks now.
"He has not been coming to work but he has not filed his resignation," the source said. (IOF)
