‘Never Again’ group wants to educate voters
THE group behind the mounting of “Never Again” billboards resurfaced yesterday to launch its voters’ education campaign in Cebu.
About 120 urban poor community leaders from Metro Cebu attended a forum organized by the Cebuanos for Good Governance and Development (CGGD), which invited two speakers from Manila.
Lawyer Levito Baligod, counsel for the pork barrel scam whistleblowers, talked about the abuse of public funds in the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) and Disbursement Acceleration Program (DAP).
Baligod is running for a seat in the Senate.
Earl Parreño, Philippine Center for Investigative Journalism (PCIJ) research director, also spoke about uncovering corruption.
The forum was held at Hannah’s Party Place along D. Jakosalem St., Cebu City.
Renil Oliva, spokesman of the group, said the activity was only the start of a series of public forums.
Oliva was one of two CGGD convenors at the forum. Another one, Marvin Morales was introduced as a former student leader.
Before this event, convenors were elusive and declined to reply to text messages and calls from Cebu Daily News about the “Never Again” billboards.
Oliva said they were not supported by any political organization, but admitted they have “benefactors” who paid for the giant yellow tarpaulins. He would not elaborate.
“We want to empower our voters by giving them an idea of the qualifications the candidates must have,” Oliva told Cebu Daily News.
He said they chose to invite people from the grassroots because they are the ones easily swayed by candidates.
Oliva said the CGGD wants to introduce community leaders to alternative candidates who advocate against corruption and push for the interests of farmers and the urban poor, among others.
He said the CGGD does not support leaders who are involved in anomalies.
“We prefer independent candidates as alternatives, especially those with advocacies on anti-corruption,” he said.
The group was initially linked to the Liberal Party (LP), after it put up yellow “Never Again” banners at the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC)
and later a private lot along the South Coastal Road in Talisay city.
The banners, which appeared to target 3rd district Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia, announced that the funds spent for the CICC and underwater lots in the Balili Estate during Garcia’s term as governor were proof of “people’s money wasted.”
The two banners have since been removed by Capitol workers and the private group.
Oliva said they have no plans to put the billboards back or install a new one.
Oliva said they invited the resource speakers, but their guests Baligod and Parreno paid for their own travel to Cebu while other expenses for the forum were covered by donations from friends.
“We tried to meet them halfway. This forum has been postponed many times because we have trouble with finances,” said Oliva.
After the forum, Oliva said they will visit urban poor leaders in their communities and will reach out to the academe and the Church.
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