BEHIND THE SCENES

Riding P19.6 luxury vehicles
ALFRED P. DIZON

As if this Banana Republic didn’t have enough of exposes on government corruption, comes now this report that members of the Baguio City council railroaded the appropriation of P19.6 million to purchase luxury cars as their service vehicles.

Now that the cat is out of the bag, the officials are blaming each other following public criticism over their allegedly self-serving action. Mayor Reinaldo A. Bautista Jr. denied to media he had knowledge of the council’s appropriation of funds for the purchase of vehicles for their official use.
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Bautista said he was surprised to know his office was allotted P4.6 million for the purchase of a new service vehicle. The mayor said he did not know the intention of the council in including his office as beneficiary of the controversial appropriation measure.

Maybe, our honorable councilors did it in the spirit of the season since Christmas is just around the corner and everyone should have a giving heart even if the money was taken from the cookie jar. Or since he is the youngest mayor Baguio ever had, it may have been an incentive from the elder members of the council as manongs.
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Councilor Galo Weygan admitted having authored the ordinance appropriating the amount for the purchase of the vehicles. But the councilor-priest said it was with the knowledge and consent of the city mayor and other members of the city council. Pundits are now saying the two should toss a coin to determine who is telling the truth.

Our bubwits at city hall are saying the plan to buy service vehicles for all elected city officials was discussed during an out-of-town executive-legislative planning workshop recently held in Subic.

The aldermen may have thoroughly discussed the prudence of the matter before they went to the former American military camp. They must have agreed the beckoning shoreline of the prime resort with the bikini-clad beauties had a stimulating effect on their brains to come up with better legislation and programs for the city. Camp John Hay is laos so better try something new.
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You see, the matter was again reportedly deliberated at several meetings in the city and even in the mayor’s office after the Subic sortie. Under the plan, the city mayor’s office was allotted P4.6 million for the purchase of a brand-new service vehicle, while the members of the city council, including the vice mayor, were allotted P1 million each.

Of course various sectors in the city denounced the use of public funds for the purchase of luxury service vehicles for the city officials, calling the act "immoral and improper." They also accused the officials of abuse of authority.
The P19.6 million earmarked to buy the service vehicles of city officials was taken from the P25.2-million internal revenue allotment (IRA) surplus of the city government.
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What my favorite bubwit can’t understand is why only P5.6 million was appropriated by the city council for the implementation of infrastructure projects of some barangays while the city government could afford to pay P19.6 million for luxury cars.

But then again, maybe, the vehicles were indeed needed so that our honorables could roam around city barangays so they could determine the constituents’ needs. You wouldn’t want any of our officials riding a tricycle to determine the state of the barangays so they could come up with appropriate legislation would you?
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It would be a shame if any of their lowland counterparts visit Baguio and see the aldermen riding the trikes. Not good for projecting the city as one of the wealthiest in the country. Clothes determine a man, an adage says.

Anyway, Councilor Erdolfo Balajadia said the city government no longer needed additional dump trucks to improve garbage collection as these were enough. Maybe, that was one of the reasons why the council allotted the P19.6 million for the luxury vehicles.

I guess the good councilor must have been joking since everywhere along city roads, there are lots of stinky garbage strewn nowadays. Besides, with windows of the vehicles closed, our honorables wouldn’t be able to smell the fragrant aroma of the garbage.
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Concerned sectors are now saying instead of buying luxury vehicles for local officials, the city government should have utilized the fund for the purchase of five dump trucks to improve garbage collection in the city’s 128 barangays.

I don’t think our city officials are trying to look for scapegoats to save themselves from criticisms by the residents as our bubwits allege. Just try talking to some of our friends in the council. They say the issue is nothing as compared to those in the national level. Don’t you agree? At least they are telling the truth. Public officials are supposed to tell the truth. And when they do this, the subterfuge is lost.
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So when any of those expensive vehicles pass you by with your favorite official with a contented smile riding and waiving on board, you can tell yourself at least, your taxes are being used and you had made another man happy.