Atan hits Tom's alleged lavish expenses

CEBU, Philippines - Congressional aspirant Jonathan Guardo yesterday fought back against Mayor Tomas Osmeña by questioning his lavish expenses despite the fact that the mayor is only earning P30,000 a month.

Guardo questioned the alleged lavish expenses of the mayor after Osmeña the other day distributed to the media the copies of the malversation case that the Philippine Sports Commission had filed against Guardo before the Manila City Prosecutors Office.

“As if Osmeña is not living in a glass house. If I may point out, the mayor’s monthly salary is only P30,000. It can even be less because of some deductions such as taxes. He is only earning P360,000 a year and he is not known to have other sources of income,” Guardo said.

Osmeña’s former sports consultant sent text messages to the reporters yesterday questioning the mayor “where you got the money to spend for the campaign of BOPK candidates, including for yourself the past 20 years.”

The mayor chose not to entertain such Guardo’s line of questioning, but said he always filed a statement of contributions and expenses every after the elections. “Let him file charges if he wants,” he said.

According to Guardo, the people knew that Osmeña made several travels to the United States last year for cancer treatment. He said the mayor traveled in first class accommodation via Cathay Pacific which cost US$3,000 for each passenger.

Guardo said that since the mayor traveled to the US together with his entire family, he said it is not impossible that Osmeña had spent less than P1 million for the airfare alone, or excluding the hospital bills at the expensive MD Cancer Center in Houston, Texas that could easily cost P10 million per check-up.

“If you’re earning only P360,000 a year and spend a million pesos alone for airfare to the United States the past year, where do you get your money for food, salary for househelp, payment of your utility bills?,” the congressional aspirant asked.

But the mayor explained that during his trips to the US, Cathay sometimes upgrades him to first class passenger area when there is vacancy.

About his hospital billings, the mayor said “my insurance policy is good for $5 million (P235 million) and Minnie has been paying the premiums for 10 years. Suya ra si Guardo kay nasakpan siya.”

Osmeña the other day asked Guardo to answer his case for malversation of public funds that is pending before the Manila City Prosecutors Office for failure to liquidate the P10 million that was entrusted to him for the 23rd Southeast Asian Games in Cebu City in 2005.

But Guardo yesterday said he is confident that he will be cleared of the charges because he described the recent SEA Games in Cebu was very successful.

“The mayor himself, together with his allies Councilor Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem and Ricky Ballesteros, were in unison at that time and concurred that the hosting of the SEA Games in Cebu was a huge success,” he said.

Guardo, further said, that if the hosting was a huge success according to the mayor and his two allies in their statements after the games, it goes to show that the funds were spent wisely.

“It is unfortunate that the mayor is just using the issue to destroy me,” said Guardo, who is expected to have a face-off with Osmeña, as both eye the city’s south congressional district seat in next year’s election. – Rene U. Borromeo/MEEV   (FREEMAN NEWS)