Late reminder
I don’t know where Deputy Ombudsman Pelagio Apostol was coming from when he asked the Cebu city government to stop its “piso piso” campaign which was launched in October to raise funds to build a new Cebu City Medical Center. He said the activity needed permission from the Dept. of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to proceed.
In the first place, why the delayed reaction? It’s been more than three weeks since the campaign began and Apostol was never heard saying anything about a legal requirement. It’s funny because apparently the DSWD isn’t saying anything or was caught off-guard.
Is Apostol saying now that fund-raising campaigns by private entities personalities for the typhoon victims need DSWD clearance because apparently many are not aware of this law. Besides, the DSWD is very busy repacking and distributing relief goods sent to devastated areas in Eastern Visayas and northern Cebu.
Why did Apostol single out City Hall’s piso piso campaign? Mayor Michael Rama plans to send Vice Mayor Edgar Labella, a former Ombudsman Director, to clarify the matter with Apostol. We hope this will be clarified so that a noble undertaking can continue.
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Grace Magalzo, chairperson of the Department of Political Science, told faculty that the University of San Carlos community will have its yearly Christmas Party on December 20, this time, minus dinner whose budget would be donated for victims of supertyphoon Yolanda. There will still be a Mass officiated by an SVD priest, probably the president, Fr. Dionisio Miranda.
I’m happy to report that truckloads of relief goods from USC were picked up and delivered. The university community has been doing its share in collecting relief goods from students and other sectors.
I’m satisfied with the response of the Carolinian community to the call for help from our brothers and sisters who are calamity victims. Truly “a witness to the word” Carolinian spirit.
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The Department of Health recently announced that it has proposed P500 million as financial aid for the proposed construction of the new Cebu City Medical Center, help that is awaiting President Aquino’s approval.
Mayor Rama welcomed the gesture but was was cautious in reacting because the offer still requires the signature of the President who isn’t a partymate of the mayor.
Recently the President has been showing partisanship even in calamities. In his visit to Cebu City after the Oct. 15 earthquake, Aquino didn’t drop by to see the mayor and instead chose to be with Rama’s political rival.
But I’m hoping that Aquino, who is the President of all Filipinos, would seriously consider helping Cebuanos by approving the P500 million contribution.
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In a recent Cebu City Council meeting, former mayor Tomas Osmeña and his minions asserted that Ordinance No. 2332 which bars the mayor from marketing and selling the South Road Properties (SRP) without council approval should not be repealed.
Apparently for them, they are the only ones who know everything about the SRP and that the Japanese International Coordinating Agency (JICA) frowns on selling SRP reclaimed land. But recently a JICA consultant gave an unsatisfactory rating after observing that after 18 years from its completion, only part of the SRP was developed, saying “the achievement of the project’s objectives is at an extremely limited level compared with the original plan.”
Clearly the JICA consultant’s observation belied assertions made by Mayor Rama’s political opponents. The resource speakers in the recent council public hearing weren’t being completely honest.
The council which is dominated by the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), should be guided by the JICA’s recent findings and approve the repeal of the ordinance.
