Using taxpayers’ money for politics

Why is the present administration the one providing it for private PUJ operators? Can’t the operators afford to install them on their own? Because it’s election time?

Incumbent elected officials have really the advantage against their opponents and challengers that are not in power during this election season. Why? Because incumbents can use government resources and machinery in the guise of projects to court voters.

Look what’s happening here in Cebu City. Before the election ban, the incumbent mayor has been spending government resources to advance his political agenda and entice voters to vote for him and his slate. Before the election ban took effect during the start of the official campaign period last March 29, the City Council, which is dominated by administration allies, had been appropriating funds for road cementing, asphalting and repairs. That is why if you observe even barangay roads have been fixed. Requests from the ally barangay captains have been acted upon by City Hall especially in the distribution of the barangays’ financial assistance.

The City Hall extended aid to habal-habal and Angkas drivers whose livelihood has been threatened with apprehension by law enforcers following the decision of the Supreme Court declaring the motorcycle-hailing mobile application illegal. They gave one sack of rice per driver. You see how generous the local administration is?

City Hall is also providing free rides to call center agents and ordinary passengers by acquiring and deploying new buses. Included in the P84.1 million supplemental budget passed last year was the P8-million allocation for the purchase of a 50-seater bus to ferry passengers for free along the Banilad-Talamban route during morning rush hours. There were already four buses operating in that area, but there is a need to add one more unit.

Now, City Hall is providing dashboard cameras to at least 1,000 public utility jeepneys (PUJ) operating in the city for free to suppress criminality and to improve the peace and order situation in the city. Operators and drivers who can comply

with the requirements such as franchise, registration and travel line certificate from the Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO) are given dash cameras for free upon signing a memorandum of agreement. I don’t know how much the cost is per unit. Some of the units are now available at the CCTO and the operators who complied with the requirements can already claim their unit. PUJs operating outside the city will soon avail themselves of the free dash cam following submission of the same requirements.

Why is the present administration the one providing it for private PUJ operators? Can’t the operators afford to install them on their own? Because it’s election time? This is another way of courting the voters from the transportation industry?

For me, this is too much spending for political purposes. The incumbent mayor is using taxpayers’ money for politics. Are they sure that this can suppress criminality? Does the city have the figures or record on how many robbery incidents involving PUJs there are compared to those happening in secluded areas in the barangays? Instead of installing these gadgets in privately owned vehicles, why doesn’t the city install more closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras in strategic areas where holdup and robbery incidents usually happen? This would benefit more people rather than PUJ passengers only.

I was informed that some of our CCTVs are no longer functioning. So why won’t the city strengthen these? Over the weekend, there was a graduating student who was held up and killed by robbers in Labangon. I am sure this won’t be solved because there was no witness. The case of a female call center agent who was killed by robbers in Mabolo last December has not yet been solved in the absence of a witness and evidence against the culprit.

Klaro man ni ba nga pag-usik-usik sa kuwarta sa mga magbubuhis alang sa ilang pulitikanhong katuyoan ug interes.