When will the walls of TESDA come down?
It's nearly a month now since the media met with Mayor Michael Rama at the Dr. Jose Rizal Public Library and I recall that one of the things he wanted to do was to go to TESDA at the corner of Salinas Drive and the Flyover and bulldoze the walls of that government agency in order to make way for a sidewalk. We've long ago expressed our demands for reforms in the Philippine government and make that paradigm shift to a Federal form of government because the centralized system of governance that we've had since 1935 wasn't working for the greater benefit of the Filipino people.
We've been attacking the Department of Public Works & Highways for its serious lack of concern for the riding public which passes its road projects especially in A.S. Fortuna Ave. and in H. Cortez St. because DPWH officials would still be paid their salaries even if they don't give taxpayers real service.
I've said so many times before that Mayor Jonas Cortes should crack the whip on those contractors that are making havoc in major roads. They just don't have people working on those ditches and they stop working at 5:00pm and are off on Sundays. In almost all Western countries work on roads that are heavily used are non-stop. But then what does DPWH know about making things convenient for the public? It just doesn't care because this is the attitude of Imperial Manila.
So the same is true with TESDA. Ever since the explosion of the Business Process Outsourcing or the Information Technology industry in the year 2002, Cebu has played witness to an economic boom that resulted in the sudden change of the skyline of Cebu City, notably the AsiaTown IT Park. But alas, TESDA officials haven't noticed that thousands of workers who get off from work have to walk only on one side of the road because the walls of TESDA has totally violated the National Building Code where it doesn't even give an inch of sidewalk for the general public.
It is this violation of the NBC that should allow Mayor Rama to go and demolish that wall because officials in TESDA just don't care. But somehow this has not happened after nearly a month when we thought that the mayor's political might have caused those walls to come down. But then on the other hand, I have complained to Mayor Rama about that house along Mango Ave. that was turned into a brand new building housing the Coffee Bean and Scent. The business is still operating despite violating parking rules. Why was this shop given a business permit, huh?
I don't know what's keeping Mayor Rama from making things work for the better of Cebu City. I thought he was serious when he said in Cebuano, "Tarongon ang hiwi?" But apparently just like all the other national government agencies, no one cares for the interest of the general public, be it the local government unit or TESDA or the DPWH.
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Last Friday afternoon, we went to the Casino Español to meet for the very first time, Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales who came to Cebu to launch the Investment Ombudsman program together with the Cebuano business leaders. This program was officially launched in Mandaluyong City at the ADB Auditorium in the Ortigas Center by virtue of Office Order No.327 and brought to Cebu in order to seek the help of the Cebuano business community so as to improve the investment climate for the country.
Amongst the many items that the Ombudsman can help is when local government units do not issue business licenses or permits unless the business concern pay grease money. This gave my good friend, Efrain Pelaez, a boost in this never ceasing campaign to fight corruption in Lapu-Lapu City. I also spoke to the Ombudsman telling her that she was the first Ombudsman that I have met since former DOJ Sec. Raul Gonzales was the Ombudsman. I took that meeting with the Ombudsman on a positive note that things would move henceforth in our Justice system.
I saluted the Ombudsman for the quick resolution of the case of former Rep. Rodrigo "Bebot" Abellanosa who was removed by the Ombudsman from his seat in the South District of Cebu City. But we wanted to know about the many other cases that had just taken too long for justice to take its course. I was referring of course to the case of former Rep. Clavel Asas Martinez, whose case began in the year 2002.
But the Ombudsman told us that the case of Rep. Martinez is already in the Sandiganbayan, which means, it is out of the hands of the Ombudsman. With the Investment Ombudsman program now in place, perhaps we should make a test case out of the Coffee Bean & Scent? Why is this shop allowed to change a home into a building without a single parking slot? I'm not yet accusing the Rama government of corruption, but I smell it in this case.
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