CEBU, Philippines - Former governor and current third district Representative Gwendolyn Garcia said the Capitol has exposed another act of criminal neglect by Governor Hilario Davide III for his failure to insure province-owned buildings.
This after Provincial Administrator, lawyer Mark Tolentino, reportedly said the proceeds of the sale of Maria Luisa lots can be used to repair the Legislative Building, the Cebu Cultural Center and other provincial structures damaged by the October 15, 2013 earthquake.
“Did Davide bother to get insurance for buildings owned by the Province? It’s obvious that he didn’t,” said Garcia referring to Tolentino’s statement.
“If you need to sell lots to repair damaged buildings, then for sure these were not insured. Under the law, he should have insured these,” Garcia said.
During her time as governor, the Capitol-owned buildings were covered by Government Service Insurance System, as provided for by law.
If Davide followed the law and continued it, Garcia said the repair for the buildings after the earthquake would have been adequately covered by the insurance.
“Now we can surmise that all of these buildings – the Museo Sugbo, the legislative building, the cultural center and yes, even the CICC, were not insured,” she said.
“This is grave dereliction of duty and further exposes his criminal neglect. This is becoming a bad habit of the present administration,” she added.
Also, Garcia criticized Tolentino for saying that there’s a need to sell the lots in Maria Luisa so that this property will not become a white elephant.
“When has real estate become a white elephant? Land continues to increase in value, and the prices of property have doubled in the last years,” she said.
“Is the Province of Cebu in such dire shortage of funds that it has to sell property in order to repair damaged structures which should have been covered with insurance? Hain man diay ang kwarta sa Kapitolyo? Wa may nakit-ang project, wa may natabang sa mga lungsod ug barangays? Nahurot sa mga consultants?” Garcia added. (FREEMAN)