On it claim, Alvin says Tomas is lying

CEBU, Philippines - Former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia yesterday urged mayoral candidate Tomas Osmeña to stop airing TV advertisements saying that he's the "Father of Information Technology (IT) in Cebu," as the claim is a "form of a lie."

"I think he should not claim something that is dubious," Garcia said, adding that he opened up the issue in order to put the record straight.

Garcia explained that under his term from 1998 to 2001, he initiated the setting up of the IT industry in Cebu City by launching the first Cebu IT Summit. In the same event, the campaign "Cebu is IT" was also started, along with the establishment of the Cebu Educational Development Foundation for Information Technology (CEDFIT).

"We wanted to position Cebu as IT Capital of the Philippines, much like how Bangalore is in India," he said. "After Osmeña took over, he forgot about CEDFIT."

Garcia also explained that during Osmeña's term, call centers started flourishing in Eastwood City in Metro Manila while Cebu's IT industry was "growing in a very slow pace."

Furthermore, the former mayor also claimed that Osmeña distorted the purpose of South Road Properties (SRP) by turning it into a real estate development site.

"The original concept of SRP was for it to become an export processing zone, an industrial zone, or an IT park, so the 20,000 to 30,000 jobs can be generated," Garcia said, adding that the funds establishing the SRP was loaned from a Japanese development bank in order to realize the concept.

"I don't know nganong gibuhat nila na. Ngano mang mangutang ta og ingon ana kadako unya himuon rang condominium sa mga dato?" he stressed, adding that even the development bank that backed the SRP project questioned how its funds were used.

Garcia added that there is "something wrong with our priorities."

On the other hand, mayoral candidate Tomas Osmeña said in a text message that he personally brought in the first business process outsourcing (BPO) company to Cebu City.

"That was Innodata in Fuente Osmeña. The only foreign direct investor (FDI) that Alvin [Garcia] can be credited for was a girlie bar, Steve's Karaoke in front of an exclusive girls' school," he added in the text message he sent to The FREEMAN.

"SRP was approved for funding in the 15th Yen Loan in 1995. Alvin was not yet mayor. And I worked six years to get it approved," the candidate said in another text message.

Meanwhile, Garcia announced that his party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo (KUSUG), will be endorsing the entire slate of Team Rama. (FREEMAN)