LESS than two days after it went up along the Cebu South Coastal Road, the second “Never Again” billboard was removed yesterday afternoon.
Provincial Engineer Hector Jamora, who was heading to Cebu City from Moalboal town, said the yellow billboard was already halfway down at around 2 p.m. yesterday.
James Canoy, one of the governor’s executive assistants, said he passed by the area in barangay Tangke, Talisay City at around 4 p.m. and noticed the billboard was already gone.
Cebu Daily News tried to reach convenors of the Cebuanos for Good Governance and Development (CGGD) who had it mounted, but they did not take calls or reply to text messages.
A licensing officer at Talisay City Hall said their office did not receive an application for a permit to put up the billboard. But he said the group may have directly sent a letter of request to the mayor.
To install a billboard, one has to secure a barangay clearance, clearance from the engineering office and proof of payment from the treasurer’s office to get the mayor’s approval.
Under Talisay’s billboard ordinance, enacted while it was still a municipality in 2000, signages erected within city bounds without permits may be taken down.
If the billboard or signage is installed in public property like roads and sidewalks, clearance is needed from the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).
The billboard was erected on a private lot in barangay Tangke, a few meters from the Talisay Fish Port and visible to southbound motorists from Cebu City heading to Talisay.
Lot caretakers Naro and Caridad Estopa earlier told CDN that the lot was owned by Virginia Inocencio, whose son Julius is a councilman of barangay Ermita in Cebu City.
CGGD spokesman Renil Oliva earlier confirmed that their group was the one who had the billboard mounted and that it measured 60 feet by 40 feet.
He wouldn’t say who spent for it, what it cost and who gave approval to put up the signage.
The poster declares “Never Again…underwater Balili property 100 million pesos of people’s money wasted,” referring to the controversial Balili Estate in Naga purchased in 2008 by the provincial government under former governor Gwen Garcia. The property, which was found to be mostly submerged in water, is the subject of a graft case and illegal use of funds pending with the Sandiganbayan against Garcia and other Capitol officials.
Gwen’s younger brother Winston, who now chairs One Cebu political party, is running for governor in the 2016 elections.
His running mate, former congressman Nerissa Soon-Ruiz, yesterday defended him.
“Winston is not Gwen. The case is still in court. No one is guilty unless proven by the court,” she told reporters.