3 department heads snub SP
BSL GAG ORDER IN EFFECT
HERE we go again!
There department heads of the Dagupan City government snubbed the invitation of the Sangguniang Panlungsod to appear before the council session last Oct. 10 ostensibly as a reuslt of the gag order issued by Mayor Benjamin Lim.
The no-show were City Administrator Vlad Mata, City Tourism Officer RosemarieTeng-Mejia and City Engineer Virginia Rosario.
Mata, in his capacity as officer-in-charge of the City Planning and Development Office, and Teng-Mejia were invited to shed light on the controversial River Cruise Project of the city government, that includes the controversial Daongan Ed Dawel that serves as docking facility for the cruise ferry boats.
The Daongan, a reportedly completed city project initiated by Mayor Lim, became controversial after the mayor admitted that no public bidding was conducted for the project.
Rosario, on the other hand, was invited to apprise the body on the ongoing infrastructure projects in the city, particularly drainage vis-à-vis the city’s flooding problem.
While Mata and Rosario were invited by the SP on Oct. 4 for its Oct. 7 regular session, Teng Mejia was invited on Sept.27 for the Oct. 3 council session. She excused herself initially owing to a prior engagement but she failed anew to appear during the Oct. 7 session.
Not one of the three provided any explanation for their non-appearance last week.
“GAG ORDER”
The non-appearance of the department heads was reminiscent of the time when Lim issued his first gag order prior to the 2011 budget deliberation.
This time, Lim, in a memorandum dated 04 October 2011, again reminded all heads of executive departments, line divisions/offices and other personnel concerned on the mandatory channelling thru the mayor of invitations to appear at any session or committee/public hearing of the SP.
Noting the non-appearance of the three, Vice Mayor and SP presiding officer Belen Fernandez asked acting SP Secretary Rizalino Uson if the letter of invitation were coursed through the mayor’s office.
Uson confirmed that all the letters of invitation were coursed through Lim’s office.
Fernandez said she does not understand why Lim would not allow the invited officers to attend the SP session even after the mayor’s desired protocol was observed.
Fernandez underscored that attendance of department heads is imperative and important since with the councilors have already started conducting committee hearings on the proposed 2012 budget.
“We want the department heads to provide us the necessary information that we need to approve the budget. Without this information, we can not do our job well in approving the budget,” she added
Meanwhile, Councilor Karlos Liberato Reyna IV, acting majority floor leader, said the council is aware that the body has no subpoena power to compel the attendance of department heads but as representatives of the people, they have to know what is happening in the city through information that would be provided by representatives of the city government.
“Kasi paano maipapaalam sa ating mga kababayan ang nangyayari kung hindi maipapahatid sa amin ng mga department heads ang nangyayari sa kanilang mga departments,” he said.
“It is always after an inquiry, in aid of legislation, that we can propose solutions to problems. So how can we ask them to give us an insight of what is happening if they don’t attend our session?” he added.
MORE INVITATIONS
More department heads are set to be invited by the SP to clarify issues contained in the 2010 Commission on Audit report that some P88 million worth of properties procured by the city have not yet been transferred in the name of the city to date.
Invited to the next session of the SP are the city administrator, city assessor and Engr. Romeo Rosario, head of a task force created by Lim to inventory city government properties.
Members of the media also lamented that department heads have become less accessible for interview since the mayor’s gag memo.
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