Ombud starts lamppost inventory

An inventory of the decorative lampposts installed for the Association of Southeast Nations (Asean) Summit in January 2007 was done yesterday as part of the Ombudsman-Visayas investigation.

Assistant Ombudsman Virginia Palanca-Santiago said results of the inventory will be sent to the Office of the Special Prosecutor (OSP) in Manila.

The OSP, which represents the State in five pending cases on the alleged overpricing of the street lamps,  will submit the results to the Sandiganbayan.

“Each lamppost will be looked into,” Santiago told Cebu Daily News.

Graft Prevention and Control Officer Roderick Blazo, an engineer, led the inventory team of anti-graft investigators that included representatives from the Commission on Audit (COA) and from the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

In a separate interview, Citom head  Rafael Yap said all 140 Asean summit lampposts  along S. Osmeña Road in Cebu City are no longer functional while four are missing.

Most, if not all, of the 136 remaining fixtures  have lost their  heads and electrical connections. Inspection will resume today on those installed near Marco Polo Hotel along Salinas Drive and Juan Luna Avenue in barangay Mabolo.

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama earlier asked for the removal of  the dilapidated posts  in Cebu City because they were  eyesores and street obstructions.

Santiago said it’s up to  the Sandiganbayan to decide on the mayor’s  request because the lampposts are  “evidence of the court” and  under the custody of the Department of Public Works and Highways.

City governments of Mandaue, Cebu and Lapu-Lapu don’t want to  take custody of the  lampposts, which have been vandalized and looted.

Photos of the lampposts were already sent to  Sandiganbayan.

Five graft cases are pending after they were filed by the  Ombudsman  against two contractors and several local officials for a total of  1,800 China-made  lampposts believed to be overpriced. /Reporter Ador Vincent Mayol and Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac