Cebu infra lack: PNoy ought to blame himself

For our special presentation on our talk show in Straight from the Sky tonight, after nearly three years, I finally got former Mayor… or should I say the real Mayor or winner in the May 2010 elections in the town of Compostela, the Honorable Ritchie Wagas to come to the SkyCable studios and talk about our favorite topic… about how the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) was used or misused by shadowy characters who have contacts with either the Commission on Elections (Comelec) officials or Smartmatic officials.

Right after the 2010 elections I wrote columns questioning why things didn’t match with the PCOS machines. But our complaints were drowned out by the euphoria of an Aquino victory. Friends were telling me to leave the issue behind and move forward. Well, I’m proud to tell my readers that even in the Philippine Star, it was only Ms. Chit Pedrosa writing about the PCOS machines and other irregularities by the Comelec. Now everyone is writing this story!

Two years back we already wrote about what happened in the town of Compostela, wherein the Comelec gave credence to the complaint filed by Ritchie Wagas. Yet despite the demands of the townsfolk to have the ballot boxes opened, the Comelec refused their request. I would like to believe that the Comelec ought to side with the people and not the politicians. In the end, 22-months later after Compostela was only given a temporary DILG official, the Comelec still ruled for Mayor Quiño to win using the same figures.

Thankfully, Regional Trial Court (RTC) Judge Estela Alma Singco ordered the Comelec to open the ballot boxes and voila! The PCOS “Tikas” has been exposed… that Ritchie Wagas should have won his reelection bid. But the bigger question you folks ought to be asking is… “If anyone can use the PCOS to cheat in a small town like Compostela, how much more would they cheat in major cities or urban centers? Cheating after all means…millions for cheaters!

So tonight, let’s hear it from the horse’s mouth when we bring you Hon. Ritchie Wagas to tell you what happened during the May 2010 in the small town of Compostela. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00pm tonight with replays in MyTV channel 30 M-W-F.

*  *  *

My heartfelt thanks to all my friends and readers who congratulated me for bagging the Rotary Club of Manila’s 9th Tourism  Award for Print Media last Thursday at the Manila Polo Club. One common greeting I’ve been getting is… people are thanking me for having the courage to write the truth. I was on my way back to Cebu at the Centennial Terminal and met Justice Regino Hermosisima (he was on a wheelchair) who shook my hands for writing the truth. This got me into thinking… that apparently writing the truth is a scarce commodity these days, when it should be the norm right?

I texted my good friend, Engr. Pericles “Ricky” Dakay with this question and he wrote back saying, “Since time immemorial courage to stand up for the truth has always been a sought after but elusive virtue… regrettably such is the case… remember our Lord was crucified because he dared speak and teach the ultimate truth.. the fact that you did your best to emulate him makes you worthy of such award.” I could only thank Ricky for his kind words… that only the wise could give.

*  *  *

There is a question as to who had a bigger rally… the Team Rama who boasted a 30,000 strong rally at the Plaza Independencia a few weeks ago (which was disputed by Rep. Tomas Osmeña) or last Friday’s rally by the Liberal Party (LP) and the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan held at the Provincial Capitol that supposedly reached 65,000. But then this could not really be validated for the simple reason that these are public roads… where people walk by every day.

First of all, the Team Rama Rally was only for Cebu City and since it was inside the Plaza Independencia, it was easier to count who were in that rally… while last Friday’s rally for the LP and the BO-PK may have seen a larger crowd, however, no one can tell whether they were all residents of Cebu City or the Province of Cebu. That President PNoy Aquino was present did not really add to the crowd, because Pres. Aquino has not given Cebu, especially Cebu City any infrastructure projects and Cebuanos know this.

I understand from the news reports that he blamed Mayor Mike Rama for having halted the planned flyovers for Cebu City. Wait-a-minute Mr. President, I specifically heard Mayor Mike Rama that he went to Malacañang to ask you to stop the flyovers… and you acceded to his request. If you refused Mayor Rama’s request to stop the flyovers… then those flyovers would have been in various stages of completion already. Perhaps Mr. President, it is time that you learned to stop blaming others and blame yourself!

*  *  *

Email: [email protected] or [email protected]