Capitol public relations expenses to be reviewed

CEBU Provincial Board Member Arleigh Sitoy yesterday said he would seek an inquiry into expenditures of certain Capitol projects, such as the TV program and monthly magazine.

In the 888 news forum, Sitoy said he was pushing to establish “development communication” as the back bone of the Capitol’s communication program.

“This coming Monday, we will call the department heads to shed light on development projects and expenses,” he said.

He clarified that this is not to put down projects of the Capitol like the magazine Sugbo News, Sugbo TV and the Suroy-Suroy tourism caravan, whose operations are supported by provincial funds.

He said he is pushing for the institutionalization of these three projects with major revisions to incorporate communication that promotes social development.

“We should incorporate devcom in programs that intended to address the problems of the province,” Sitoy said.

Sitoy said he is mulling the creation of an “editorial board” to guide the those managing the Capitol’s communication needs.

He said Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale, an ally of Sitoy in the Liberal Party, would be attending the meeting next week.

In the same new forum, veteran broadcaster Choy Torralba said he is in favor of such a review.

“These projects are okay. We are not persecuting anyone. We just want transparency. This is nothing personal. We just want accounting for the people’s money,” Torralba explained.

Newspaper columnist Bobet Avila advised caution.

“Look at it carefully. Should we quantify the expenses of the projects like Suroy-Suroy Sugbo with its effect on tourism? Camotes island, Bantayan island and others were not known to tourists until this program came along,” Avila said.

Sitoy acknowledges the conflicting opinions saying “this is part of our democracy” and that an inquiry would “make things official.”