They know pretty well what to expect when their patron, outgoing Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, lost in the elections, yet it was still surprising to see some barangay officials continually oppose a recall order issued by Acting Mayor Margot Osmeña on their city-issued vehicles.
Leading the charge was Barangay Tisa chairman and Association of Barangay Captains (ABC) president Philip Zafra, who said the recall order was tantamount to paralyzing their services to their constituents.
But when asked what those services constitute, Zafra declined to elaborate and only said that some constituents were promised use of the barangay vehicle for their outing. Since when did beach outings qualified as essential services?
It’s not hard to imagine that use of these city-issued vehicles for these outings, which had likely been frequent, entailed fuel costs that would run into thousands of pesos. It’s also not hard to imagine that these vehicles were also used for other purposes that won’t qualify for government use such as personal or family use.
Lest they need reminding, the recall order didn’t cover police patrol cars, fire trucks, ambulances and other vehicles which are used for peace keeping, handling emergency medical cases, garbage disposal and so on.
As of last week, there were more than 100 vehicles that were parked at the South Road Properties (SRP), and a careful inventory being done by the transition team of incoming Mayor Tomas Osmeña would show whether the purchase and use of these vehicles are fully justified.
It would also show if the outgoing administration of Mayor Rama exercised utmost practicality and sensibility in acquiring these vehicles whose use are supposed to be covered by trip tickets as required under the “Oplan Red Plate” of the Ombudsman.
Again, Zafra may need reminding that their patron Rama and his allies in the City Council like Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella had returned their city-issued vehicles ahead of them. True, they were suspended, but if they count themselves still with their outgoing leader, they should at least follow his example.
But maybe since it’s been six years since they were bought sports utility vehicles by their outgoing benefactor, the comfort and convenience of using these vehicles may have lulled them into a false sense of security and led them to believe that they will continue to enjoy using these vehicles for whatever purpose they deem necessary.
If these officials can produce the trip tickets and other evidence to show that they didn’t use these city-issued vehicles for their personal purposes, then they have nothing to fear about an inventory of vehicles that in essence should not be done only by the incoming administration but also by state auditors who are mandated to watch over the backs of local officials and see if they are using government resources wisely and according to law.
Claiming that the recall order of vehicles is a form of political harassment, unless substantiated with evidence, is pure hogwash.
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