Tuesday, November 25, 2008

Tagbilaran City Hall Scandal

There is nothing new in the so-called expose of Tagbilaran City Councilor Zenaido Rama against alleged questionable items in the financial transactions of the city government.            

"It is just like the others before it," remarked Tagbilaran Mayor Dan Lim in reaction to the latest tirades launched by his erstwhile political ally turned bitter critic.            

Lim said that just as he suspected when Rama defected to the camp of Vice Mayor Jose Antonio Veloso on his first day as councilor last year, Rama's role is to spread lies to destroy the city government.            

The mayor said that for those who doubted whether the move to isolate Rama, his subsequent acts removed all that.            

Lim recalled that the first bomb that Rama and his fellow destabilizers did was to sabotage the Blue Card program. He added that the accusers did not mince words in hurling accusations against people in the mayor's office who were allegedly involved in the anomaly.            

"As we expected, the accusations were proven to be a big lie. No less than the management of the ( Medical Mission Group Hospitals and Health Services Cooperative) admitted that the irregularities were committed from their end and apologized to the city government for the inconvenience that it caused," Lim said.            

The mayor said that nothing was heard from Rama and his cohorts, not even an acknowledgment that their accusations were irresponsible and unfounded.            

"They were not bothered about the shame and humiliation they caused to those whom they unfairly accused in pursuit of their political ambitions," he added.            

The mayor said the second attempt to destroy his administration was the concerted attack against the Botika sa Katawhan.            

"It did not matter to them that the only contribution of the city government was the office where it is located and the people who assisted Deputy Mayor Mario Uy in dispensing services," he added.            

Just like his first try, Lim said Rama did not hesitate to humiliate and cast aspersions on people who are serving the city and its people through a project that is the object of envy of other cities.            

"Rama and his ilk did not care that the city was put in an embarrassing position out of their fear that the project would be a threat to the political ambitions of his patrons," the mayor added.            

Like the first, Lim said no anomaly was found because there was none.            

"There were no cash donations but all come in the form of actual medicines," he pointed out.            

Again, the mayor said Rama and his backers did not bother to admit the mistake much more apologize for all the hurt feelings they have caused.            

Lim said there is nothing more to explain about the latest allegations made by Rama because these are the findings of no less than the Commission on Audit (COA).            

"The COA as a watchdog has not seen any impropriety. It exists only in the malicious minds like Councilor Rama and his fellow destabilizers," the mayor added.            

Lim said that Rama himself cannot make up his mind about his allegations.            

"First he said there are idle funds. Next, he is questioning the expenditures. If the funds are idle, it means that they have not been spent. If they are spent, they cannot be idle. This only proves that he does not know what he is talking about," the mayor added.            

Lim said that he does not need to explain anything because the COA itself does not find anything questionable.            

"The people who understand what we are doing are not asking for explanations. The ones who are demanding for it are those who refuse to accept any explanations," he added.            

The mayor said that if it is difficult to rouse a person who is already awake, it is much more difficult to explain anything to those who already understand.  - Sunday Post Newspaper