Greg asks Gwen: Account for Capitol’s spending
VICE Gov. Gregorio Sanchez Jr. has challenged Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia to explain to the public how the Capitol spent P1.7 billion for projects that, he said, have not made much of an impact on the poor.
Sanchez said the Cebu Provincial Government had about P2.1 billion when he and Garcia ran for reelection in 2007. He claimed Capitol officials recently told him only P400 million is left.
Click here for Election 2010 updates
“Giunsa ang kuwarta? Nganong nag-antos ang katawhan sa kalungsoran? (How was the money spent? Why do people in the towns continue to suffer?),” Sanchez said in a rally during the weekend in Danao City.
Asked to comment on the allegations, the governor requested that she not be confronted with “blocktimer rantings.”
“Am I going to answer rumor-mongering? Please don’t insult this office by making me even dignify those (statements). Do not drag me into that pigsty,” Garcia said in a press conference yesterday.
Garcia said, though, that the Capitol definitely has more than P400 million in the bank.
Budgets
Capitol consultant on information and revenue generation Rory John Sepulveda said the Province has between P600 million and P700 million in special bank deposits alone.
Capitol had a budget of P2.001 billion in 2007 and passed a budget of P2.2 billion in 2008.
Most of the 2008 budget went to general public services, amounting to P807,675,000 or 36.71 percent. Another 36.41 percent or a total of P801,021,000 went to economic services, while the remaining P591,386,000 went to social services.
In the same rally, Sanchez, a civil engineer, said the former beach resort the Capitol bought in Naga cannot be converted into a world-class port.
He said siltation from the mountains of Naga and San Fernando town make the site in Tinaan a poor one for a port.
He again said the Province should rescind its contract with the Balili Estate, which it paid some P98 million for the 24.7-hectare property. Nearly 10 hectares turned out to be underwater or mangrove lands.
Sanchez also urged the governor to explain why the kitchen of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center was renovated, allegedly for P35 million.
The money “could have been used to upgrade the services of various district hospitals, which are ineffective due to the lack of funds,” Sanchez said.
The vice governor also said that while Cebu is a premier province and has so much in resources, it is the only province in the country that has no motor pool.
“The heavy equipment of the Cebu Provincial Engineering office were sold and the repairs of roads and other jobs are being outsourced. Why? Who benefited from this outsourcing of jobs?” Sanchez said.
Sepulveda challenged Sanchez to make a formal complaint on the matter and the vice governor will be answered comprehensively.
“The governor deserves better than that. I do not take up such blocktimer rantings, even though it is a vice governor talking,” said Garcia.
Published in the Sun.Star Cebu newspaper on April 13, 2010
To believe or not to believe?
Originally Posted by storya_ta_bai2
Posting Permissions
