Osmeña to give sack of rice to DPS men

CEBU, Philippines - Another priority of Mayor Tomas Osmeña during his two-week stay in Cebu City is to give honor to the personnel of the Department of Public Services who worked hard in maintaining the cleanliness of the city’s streets especially during the yearly Sinulog festivities.

During his press conference a day after he returned from the United States, Osmeña said he will already finalize the schedule of giving the street cleaners and garbage collectors one sack of rice each that he had earlier promised them.

The mayor said he plans to give the incentive in a yearly basis every after the Sinulog celebration. The Sinulog day is the dirtiest part of the year, dirtier than New Year and Christmas, he added.

“After Sinulog day, the streets are cleaned even before you wake up, when the guests go out from the hotels, everywhere is clean and one can see it on the way to the airport,” Osmeña said.

He said garbage collection is a dirty business, not only morally but physically, adding that in the US, the garbage people are paid high.

“I am not swapang, I will pay if you deserve it. Unlike the time of Alvin Garcia (former mayor) when they have to wait for two weeks,” he said.

In this year’s Sinulog, the DPS, headed by Engr. Dionisio Gualiza, has successfully cleaned the Sinulog route, hauling some 250 tons of garbage overnight through the deployment of more than 500 street cleaners and 100 garbage collectors. This has been the scenario for the past three years.

“You clean it, you get one sack of rice, I don’t think that is too much to ask,” Osmeña said.

The tentative schedule of rice distribution is on Friday or over the weekend. — Ferliza C. Contratista/WAB (THE FREEMAN)