In this file photo former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama holds a news conference with some barangay captains of Cebu City’s south district lamenting the lack of consultation on the traffic rerouting scheme being implemented by the city to give way to the construction of a P683-million underpass project along N. Bacalso Avenue. (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
PUT up or shut up.
The stinging remark comes from former mayor Michael Rama addressed to no other than his nemesis Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Annoyed by Osmeña’s pronouncements questioning where P900 million worth of foreign pledges given at the time of Rama had gone, the former mayor issued a challenge to Osmeña.
“If he can’t put up, shut up. In other words, he should file cases,” Rama said.
The foreign pledges were intended for the construction of the new Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC).
Rama explained that the donations may not anymore materialize considering that he is no longer the mayor of Cebu City.
Rama said that the international groups, whom he visited abroad, have not contacted him to follow through with their pledges after he lost in last year’s elections.
“How can those pledges be converted into donations? The donors know that that person (Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña) has no love for CCMC. He wanted to sell CCMC,” Rama told Cebu Daily News.
Rama said that the commitments were made between the donors and him as an “ambassador” and “professional beggar” for Cebu City back in 2014.
During his State of the City Address (Soca) last Tuesday, Osmeña slammed Rama and Cebu City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera for not being able to account for pledges received from foreign countries estimated to have reached P900 million.
Osmeña challenged both officials to show proof of these donations.
But Rama said the mayor’s accusation was “stupid.”
“A pledge can never be in cash. It cannot be counted with receipts. Of course, if there are already donations, it will be brought to the treasurer,” Rama said.
Aside from the CCMC pledges, Osmeña also questioned the alleged “dubious” transactions made during the Rama administration, such as the purchase of garbage trucks from China, which purchase of garbage trucks from China, which have already become unserviceable.
The mayor threatened to sue Rama and other officials of the previous administration regarding these issues.
The Barug Team Rama group will be coming up with an official statement regarding the matter, Rama said.
Questionable payment
In its Annual Audit Report (AAR) on the Cebu City government, the Commission on Audit (COA) questioned the release of P90 million to a contractor, which undertook the CCMC construction even in the absence of some documents.
The amount released in March 2016 represented partial payment for 17.6 percent of the work done by CE Padilla Construction on the P599 million CCMC project.
COA found that among other things, the contractor failed to submit a certified true copy of the building permit for the project and a certified copy of official receipts showing the purchase of bidding documents by the bidders.
In a report, COA directed concerned city officials and employees to immediately submit the required documents and to explain the “deficiencies/inconsistencies noted from the former BAC (Bids and Awards Committee).”