Davide won’t remove ‘tout’ banner at CICC

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III sees no reason to remove the “NEVER AGAIN…” banner displayed at the Cebu International Convention Center even as the Capitol denied responsibility for it.

Davide said he would make inquiries to identify the people responsible for putting up the huge banner.

 “But I don’t see anything wrong there. We respect the constitutionally guaranteed rights of the people to express. I have no intent to have that removed,” he told reporters.

He disclosed that he was informed by his staff that an anti-corruption group sent him a request letter last week, but he failed to check the content because he was in Manila that time for a meeting with Liberal Party officials.

He said that if it was the group that displayed the banner at the CICC, then he would raise no objection since it is merely showing its cause for good governance, which his administration is espousing.

He added that that message on the banner is also a way of reminding the public that the facility is a “monument of corruption,” noting that it is a subject of graft case pending before the Office of the Ombudsman involving former governor, now third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia.

But Garcia’s brother Winston, who will be running against Davide in 2016 gubernatorial contest, earlier believed that it was his supporters who put it up there to express disgust over the current administration’s poor governance.

The CICC has been standing idle after it suffered severe damage when the magnitude 7.2 earthquake rocked Bohol and Cebu in October and super typhoon Yolanda in November 2013.  The facility would reportedly need around P160 million for its restoration and upgrade.

The building is owned by the Capitol while the lot where the facility stands is owned by Mandaue City government.

The facility was constructed during the previous administration for the 2007 Association of Southeast Asian Nations Summit at over P800 million in public funds.

 Davide’s administration refused to spend “even a single centavo” for the repair because the province was reportedly not earning from the facility. (FREEMAN)