Admits van seen inside Carmen safari park was assigned to him
Cebu City Councilor Alvin Arcilla confirmed that the City Hall-owned vehicle spotted inside a private zoo in Carmen town last Sunday and which became viral on Facebook, was assigned to him.
But Arcilla denied allegations that he and his entire family went there using the city-owned vehicle for a tour.
He also dared anyone, including Apas Barangay Captain Ramil Ayuman – who posted on his FB page the photos of the white, Toyota Grandia van with license number SKN 781 assigned to Arcilla – to sue him.
Ayuman’s post has since been deleted.
“Let them file the necessary charges to prove what they think is true. And it’s not my entire family who went there. It’s just my child and four of his classmates. The van is large and I’m the only one going.” Arcilla said.
He added that he was at the Cebu Safari and Adventure Park, a 2,000-hectare property owned and operated by the Lhuillier family, in Barangay Corte, Carmen town, located 42 kilometers northeast of Cebu City, for official business last Sunday (April 15).
Citing records from their office, Cebu City Department of General Services (DGS) head Ronald Malacora said the van belonged to the office of Arcilla.
“I was there because somebody told me that the zoo is a great example of rural development wherein development does not entail changing the landscape and the surroundings. As chair of the City Council’s Committee on Agriculture and Rural Development, I checked it out,” Arcilla told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.
Ayuman did not name the public official who has custody of the government-owned vehicle, but posted a critical caption on the photos which read: “Kasagaran sa bulilyaso sa City Hall naglambigit gyud ug red plate… gahapon white van nag tour sa Safari sa Carmen. Reliable source nako nagsulti nga usa ka City Councilor ug iyang pamilya kuyog (Most of the snafus in City Hall involve red-plate vehicles. Yesterday, a white van toured the Safari in Carmen. A reliable source told me that on board was a City Councilor and his family).
Meanwhile, Arcilla revealed some insights he got from his visit to the recently-opened zoo.
He said unless the city can attract investors as wealthy as the Lhuilliers, it would be impossible for the city government to have the kind of rural development like Carmen’s safari park.