Young supports removal of BOPK photos from buses

CEBU, Philippines - The instruction of City Hall to remove the pictures bearing the face of Rep. Tomas Osmeña and the rest of the Bando Osmena-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) officials in the city-owned Kaohsiung buses has no political color.

Cebu City Vice Mayor and BOPK stalwart Joy Augustus Young defends Mayor Michael Rama after the mayor orders the immediate removal of the face and names of politicians from projects and government vehicles.

“I don’t want to make things out of it. We should not put meaning,” Young said as he dispels speculations that Rama wants to erase what the former mayor has done in the city.

Osmeña and Rama, who were allies for a long time, have been publicly at odds with each other after Rama assumed office. Speculations are circulating that the two will face off for the mayoralty race on 2013.

Young said the mayor is just following the memorandum from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to remove the names of politicians from government projects and vehicles.

“Naa man gud mga pangutana miabot nako nga mao daw ipatangtang sa mayor kay politika,” Young said.

Young also explained that the former mayor does not have the habit of putting his face on projects.

In Cebu City, basketball boards, skywalks and flyovers in Cebu City will no longer bear the names of the politicians who initiated the projects, if a councilor’s proposal is approved.

President Benigno Aquino III announced he doesn’t want his name printed on billboards of government projects. The Department of Public Works and Highways has also revised its guidelines on DPWH billboards, which would now contain only the name of the project and location, contractor, the date started and target completion date.

The billboards can also provide details on the contract cost, name of the construction consultant, if any, and the source of funds. — (FREEMAN)