Ruiz urges Cortes to fire mgmt. Team

CEBU, Philippines - Sixth district Rep. Nerissa Soon-Ruiz is urging Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes to fire his management team, which she dubbed as “mismanagement team.”

“I urge the mayor to fire his (mis) management team. He should start replacing his men with competent people to help him grapple his own incompetence, as he already wasted two years in office and the chance to make a difference to the lives of the Mandauehanons with the P1.7 billion total budgets appropriated by the City Council for his disposal,” Soon-Ruiz said in a press statement furnished to The Freeman yesterday.

Soon-Ruiz, quoting the report of the Commission on Audit, stated that the multi-million City’s New Public Market has remained not operational as remedial measures have not been put in place.

The new market, which is situated in Barangay Centro at the back of Mandaue City Hospital, was constructed during the time of former Mayor Thadeo Ouano. Up to now, it has remained unfinished and unoperational.

Soon-Ruiz, who already declared that she will run for mayor in the 2010 national and local elections, said that to get the new public market finished does not require remedial measures as plans by the Ouano administration for a circumferential road was already in place.

“My fear is that the reason why work in the new public market has grinded to a halt is because the Kabanay Unlimited are fighting each other on who will finish the project for a consideration,” said Soon-Ruiz, who is now on her last term as congresswoman.

According to her, the Mandauehanons’ health has been placed in danger while the mayor’s “mismanagement team” grapples to get the city’s slaughterhouse operational despite the availability of budget since 2007.

She said Cortes’ administration is once ready with its finger pointing though there are reports that the contractor/supplier for the boiler backed out for reasons only a few City Hall people know.

Soon-Ruiz said city administrator Briccio Boholst in his attempt to defend the present administration on COA report on the security camera blamed the City Council for the fiasco.

She added it is ridiculous for the city administrator to blame the members of the City Council for the payment of the security camera allegedly that the mayor was just being pressured by the city council members.

“And so, she thinks buying lamp posts is a showcase of management expertise or even crafting the Reproductive Health Bill?. God help us,” Boholst said when asked for comment.

Soon-Ruiz further said the pattern is clear that if the current administration cannot show an achievement, it blames the council for alleged obstructionism and if gets its way by having the council approved a budget, like for the spy cam project, still it blames the council when COA finds out a failure in the implementation.

She added that Cortes has mastered the art of blaming others including the previous administration for his own gross mismanagement.

The lady legislators said the city government’s losing P32 million in interest expense as COA pointed out is a serious matter. — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon/WAB (THE FREEMAN)