E-GWEN highway signboards to be replaced

Road signs declaring parts of Cebu province as “eGwen Highway” will be eventually removed and repainted, said acting Gov. Agnes Magpale.

“They should be changed to ‘Our Cebu’,” she said, referring to the new name of the good governance program that the Cebu Provincial Board has changed from “E-Gwen”.

She said the green signages mounted in towns in the north and south of Cebu violate a 2010 memorandum circular of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) which bans placing  names of government officials on signages of  government projects.

“But that’s the least of my worries because we have many other things to spend for. The engineering department is still busy…. The signs should be changed to Our Cebu,” she told Cebu Daily News.

“The program came much ahead of the signs. The name has been changed to Our Cebu by virtue of an ordinance. Pero mahimo naman na nga tangtangon ug ilisan because its now the Our Cebu program,” shesaid.

Last week, the Capitol also had to deal with a warehouse of P19 million worth of undistributed notebooks and other school supplies.

Auditors said the procurement had various “deficiencies”, including violation of the DILG and an audit circular about placing names of officials on government property, and the waste of funds in having the supplies not reaching their end-users, students of public schools in Cebu province.

The notebooks had the face of suspended Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on the front cover and members of the Provincial Board on the back.   Schoolbags were also  printed with the name “GWEN”.

Magpale said she’s exploring options to ask the supplier, Prince Warehouse Inc., to change the covers.

The “eGwen Highway” signages can be seen along the Cebu province circumferential road.

The green metal signages, installed by the Garcia administration, are mounted on a cement base.  A sign above it greets motorists “Welcome to..” and the name of the barangay.”

Lawyer Ayesh Nogra, DILG Legal officer in Region 7 told CDN, her office can’t impose sanctions since the memorandum circular is not ‘penal in nature’.

“It is directory in character in support of the policies of the administration,” she added.

“Unfortunately, there is no law violated here considering that the anti-epal bill is still pending in Congress,” she said.

However, under a COA circular based on the policy, placing names of public officials on government property is listed as an “irregular” expenditure.

An ordinance approved last month by the Provincial Board sought to institutionalize the program formerly called the Expanded Green and Wholesome Environment that Nurtures (E-Gwen).

The name was changed to “Our Sustainable Cebu”

PB Member Thadeo Ouano, the main author,  was a former ally of Garcia in her One Cebu party until he shifted last year to the Liberal Party.

The program was established by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc.  in 2008 in partnership with the Capitol with the vision of making  Cebu an ideal place to live, work, play, invest and do business.

Towns and cities  were encouraged rated using a scorecard system  that used  as criteria cleanliness, sanitation and health; environment protection, creativity, heritage and culture, and good governance.

The RAFI program was originally called “Our Cebu” but was later changed to E-Gwen.

The PB intends to continue the program to “capacitate each town and city” in Cebu province, but under the new name “Our Sustainable Cebu”.

The program is being continued by RAFI, but is now voluntary, not mandatory for all towns and barangays.

The localities will  still be rated with scorecards based on  the seven pillars of sustainable development, the United Nations Sustainable development framework, scorecard from Liveable Cebu, and vision and aspirations of the province and its component cities and towns.

The road signs were part of the program’s thrust encouraging localities to put up directional signs to guide tourists and visitors, and to serve as boundaries between towns and cities.

The signs were installed by the Provincial Engineering Office.