Mayor to Cebu gov: Fire aide or resign

Medellin Mayor Ricardo Ramirez yesterday called for the resignation of Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III for committing “acts against humanity” and for lacking control over his people.

But the governor is taking criticisms to his administration’s disaster response in stride, saying allegations of gross inefficiency “will be investigated” and that Capitol’s handling of supertyphoon Yolanda aid distribution “is devoid of political color.”

Ramirez is disgruntled over the way the provincial government handled the relief distribution in northern Cebu and said Davide must take responsibility being the “top man.”

Gross inefficiency

“He doesn’t deserve to be the governor a minute longer, not even a barangay captain,” said Ramirez, citing what he said was a series of acts showing gross inefficiency and politicking on the part of the provincial government. He said that he will have this issue investigated by the Ombudsman.

Ramirez’s complaints included discrepancies between the number of relief packs the town received and the number the provincial government claimed to have given. He also cited issues against Provincial Chief Security Officer Loy Madrigal and inconsistencies in documents from the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office, among others. Ramirez claimed that days after typhoon Yolanda hit the town of Medellin, the municipality only received 50 sacks of relief goods for 750 families. Ramirez said that the Capitol claimed to have given 30,000 relief packs to them but the municipality has recorded receiving only a total of 8,000 packs.

Ramirez demanded documentary proof of the number the Capitol claimed to have given Medellin and the other towns.

“The distribution should be fair,” said Ramirez.

He also claimed that Madrigal ordered the province-owned truck bringing relief goods meant for Medellin to be redirected to the Bogo City command center supposedly to be assigned escorts since it is a policy that no vehicle may travel to disaster-stricken areas without security escorts. Ramirez asked why the Capitol was so concerned about security from Bogo to Medellin when the trucks left Cebu City to Bogo without escorts.

Mishandling

The mayor said he may change his mind about getting the Ombudsman involved if Davide would be man enough to fire Madrigal whom he believes is one of those behind the mishandling of goods for Medellin.

“If Davide is half the man I expect him to be, then he should have the guts to fire Madrigal, otherwise, he should just resign,” he said.

Davide however is brushing aside Ramirez’s call. “We assure everyone that relief operations have been implemented in a transparent and judicious manner, devoid of political color.”

Ramirez said that the relief goods arrived two days later than the date it was supposed to arrive. He said that they are still trying to locate the 15 tents that Provincial Social Welfare Officer Evelyn Senajon sent for Medellin, because they received tarpaulin sacks instead.

A copy of the PSWDO’s Requisition and Issue Slip showed erasures. The request slip indicated several relief packs intended for Medellin but beside it was a handwritten “Madridejos” crossed out. He was also made to sign a delivery receipt for bottles of water that bore the name of a hardware store.

Ramirez is a member of the One Cebu Party, whose gubernatorial bet Pablo John Garcia lost to Davide in the May 2013 polls.