After almost a decade of waiting, we write this with utter frustration, deep discouragement, and growing dismay. For years, we have treated the city’s poorest residents with dignity and compassion in their most painful moments — laying their loved ones to rest with respect, even when payment was uncertain. Yet in return, the Cebu City Government has shown us the opposite: neglect, broken promises and a refusal to settle debts that have been pending for as long as nine years. We are law-abiding, tax-paying citizens who have always stood ready to serve the city’s people, but the way we have been treated is both disheartening and unacceptable.
The oldest unpaid obligation, P861,000, covers funeral services provided between November 2015 and April 2016 for indigent constituents. This debt has outlived three administrations, surviving repeated follow-ups and unfulfilled promises.
In January 2022, during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, we extended another P200,000 worth of services — still unpaid to this day.
And in June 2022, after a fatal accident involving a City Hall garbage truck, we provided funeral services worth P80,000. To date, only half has been paid, leaving a P40,000 balance.
The injustice is compounded by the fact that the fees we charge the City are already well below market rates — a concession made in the spirit of public service. Meanwhile, inflation and rising operating costs have significantly burdened us, and yet our dues remain unsettled. All we receive are empty promises.
I believe I speak also for those who provide other essential services, such as hospitals and clinics, who have likewise endured long payment delays. Sadly, this seems to be a recurring pattern under former Cebu City officials: those who deliver critical services for the public good are made to wait for years, while certain contractors — like those behind flood-control projects tainted by corruption allegations — are paid immediately or even in advance.
We sincerely hope that Mayor Nestor Archival’s administration will be different — an administration that values fairness, rewards integrity and ensures that those who serve the city’s people, especially its most vulnerable, are compensated without unjust delay. We look forward to the new administration’s prompt and swift action in finally resolving this matter once and for all.