Groups question ‘eGwen’ signages

Several militant  groups yesterday questioned  Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia’s   E-Gwen program named after her.

They also asked whether the road signs of “e-Gwen Highway’ that have sprouted in the province were sanctioned by the Provinial Board.

In a letter to PB Member Thadeo Ouano, they asked him  whether  the road signs were approved by the legislative body.

They said these signs  violate a  memorandum circular issued two years ago by the late Interior Secretary Jesse Robredo which prohibits local government units from displaying billboards and signages of government projects, programs and properties bearing the names, initials and/or images of government officials.

E-Gwen   stands for Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures, a program that aims to build self-reliant, sustainable communities in each town and city.

The  Capitol gives out  annual awards for the  “Green Champion”, “Model Town” and “Good Neighbor” in a province-wide contest of local governments down to the purok level.

Ouano, who chairs the  PB s environment committee, on Nov. 12  sponsored a proposed ordinance institutionalizing Garcia’s E-Gwen project which started in 2008.

The proposed ordinance  was called  a  “downright insult and a mockery to the Cebuanos and Filipinos who demand that hard-earned taxpayers money be used to benefit the people and not the image of a politician.”

The letter was signed by Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center (PEJC); Aaron Pedrosa, secretary-general of Freedom from Debt Coalition-Cebu (FDC-Cebu); Carlo Cabatingan, co-convenor of Youth Against Debt-Cebu (YAD-Cebu); Teody Navea, spokesperson of Sanlakas Sugbo; Nally Murillo, local coordinator of Families of Victims of Involuntary Disappearance (Find) Cebu, and Corazon Amisable, vice-president of Kongreso ng Pagkakaisa ng Maralita ng Lungsod (KPML).

The groups said the DILG circular against naming projects after public officials “continues to be violated in Cebu.”

They also said the proposed ordinance making the e-Gwen program permanent was  “an illegal expenditure of public funds”.

They cited  Republic Act no. 1059 which  prohibits “the naming of sitios, barrios, municipalities, cities, provinces, streets, highways, avenues, bridges, and other public thoroughfares, parks, plazas, public schools, public buildings, piers, government aircraft and vessels and other public institutions and places after living persons.”

“(The) pathetic failure of the DILG (Department of Interior and Local Government) to monitor its implementation does not make it legal,” the groups said.

“We cringe at the continuing ‘greenwashing’ of the province under the Garcia administration for allegedly implementing green projects while at the same time failing in its mandate to protect the life of the people and our environment,” the statement said. Correspondent Tweeny M. Malinao