O2 CEBU DAILY NEWS | THURSDAY, 14 FEBRUARY 2008 COPYAEDITOR Dennis B.

Singson
NEWS
MISSING LAMPPOSTS PROBE

Ombudsman: Officials Ø TODAY’S WEATHER

O

23 C to 30 C
O

METRO CEBU

of DPWH may be liable

by Jhunnex Napallacan The DPWH officials yes-
Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
with isolated rainshowers

METRO MANILA
Partly cloudy to at times cloudy
CORRESPONDENT terday told the Ombuds- with isolated rainshowers
man investigator they will

S
ome officials of the give their explanations on M E T R O D AVA O
Department of Pub- the issue on Friday. Mostly cloudy with scattered
lic Works and High- Apostol said DPWH rainshowers and thunderstorms
ways in Central Visayas asked for more time to sub-
(DPWH-7) may be ad- mit their response because SUNRISE SUNSET
ministratively liable if the agency is conducting al- 6:22 a.m. 5:58 p.m.
found that they have been so their own investigation.
negligent in the missing On Tuesday, a DPWH M E G A LOT TO 6 / 4 5
and vandalized lampposts official reported the "theft" 30 03 27 05 32 43
and streetlights in the at the Mandaue City Police ANY ORDER
streets of Mandaue City Office after of the missing JACKPOT PRIZE: P75,163,090.80
and Lapu-Lapu City. 44 decorative lampposts S U E R T R E S

Deputy Ombudsman for along A.C. Cortes Avenue MID-DAY DRAW RESULT EVENING DRAW RESULT

the Visayas Pelagio Apostol DPWH legal officer 582 966

said yesterday that the Of-
fice of the Ombudsman or-
dered a separate fact-finding
inquiry on the possible neg-
ligence committed by the
government officials, who
are considered custodians of
the lampposts and street-
lights.
Apostol said the Om-
budsman's investigator in-
formed him verbally that
the custodian is still the DP-
WH-7 because the lamp-
posts and the streetlights
had not been turned over to
THE FOUNDATION of one of the missing decorative lampposts is all that is left after it was illegally
removed at A.C. Cortes Avenue in Mandaue City.
the local government units.
“Posibeng may adminis-
trative liability diyan kung
pababayaan nila na mawala
iyong government proper-
ties na custody nila,” he
said.
“It’s basic that it’s a gov-
ernment property and it’s in
your custody. You are
obliged to take care of that
property otherwise you will
be charged of negligence.”
Apostol, however, clari-
fied that the disappearance
and the looting of the lamp-
posts could not affect the
investigation of the alleged
CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA
overpricing of the street-
lights project for the Associ-
ation of Southeast Asian
Nations (ASEAN) summit.
He said he ordered the
inventory of the lampposts
and streetlights to ensure
that no more looting will
happen again.
Agustinito Hermoso in-
formed the MCPO Station
5 in barangay Opao, Man-
daue City about the missing
INSIDE
lampposts. 1 Main News
SPO1 Reynaldo Urot said
7 Police
Hermoso did not name any
suspect and what was writ-
9 Across The Visayas
ten in the blotter was they
were taken by "still un- 11 Islands
known suspects."
Urot said the recording 13 Opinion
of the theft of the lampposts 16 Community
at the blotter was for "record
17 Sudoku/Movie
OMBUDSMAN 39
18 Life

Private sector No Palace order to discuss 20 Bliss

22 Showbitz
urged to back fight federalism – PIA 7 director 23 Clique

against corruption “IT WAS just coinciden-

tal.”
THE Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) Philippine Informa-
yesterday urged private sector to practice good gover- tion Agency in Central
nance in business and reiterated the chamber's support Visayas (PIA-7) Regional
for organizations that fight against corruption. Director Minerva New-
The group issued the call after Cebu City Mayor Tomas m a n s a i d ye s te rd ay ' s
Osmeña challenged the businessmen last Tuesday to take Kapihan sa PIA forum on
a strong stand against corruption and for what is good federalism was not part of
and just for the country. a reported nationwide
Osmeña gave his message in a speech during the campaign by administra-
launching of Cebu Business Month (CBM) 2008 at Cebu tion allies to revive Char-
City Sports Club. ter Change.
The chamber said they support Coralpoint Education- Newman made the de-
al Foundation, headed by businessman Efrain Pelaez Jr., nial after the Inquirer yes-
when it filed charges against Lapu-Lapu City officials over terday bannered the story
an alleged overpricing of 240 computer units. on moves by administra-
“We are still vigilant over the developments of cases tion allies to resurrect
such as this and shall support all moves that affirm trans- Charter Change and in-
parency, accountability and honesty in conducting the af- troduce a federal form of
fairs of the state,” CCCI said in a statement. government
The chamber also said good governance is needed for The Inquirer story also
sound economic management and sustained develop- mentioned that the road
ment. tour of the movers to
CCCI said that the chamber believes that corruption is amend the Constitution
not only confined to government but also to private sec- began yesterday in Cebu
to “test the waters for fed-
PRIVATE SECTOR 39
eralism.”
The move is being seen
by administration critics
as a way to extend the
term of President Ar-
royo.
Se ver al PIA offices
throughout the country
were also repor ted to
have held forums on fed-
eralism, like the one held
by PIA-7 at Club Ultima
along Osmena Boulevard
yesterday.
Their panelists include
National Youth Commis-
sioner Michael Lopez, Ce-
bu Chamber of Com-
merce and Industry (CC-
CI) vice president for ex-
ternal affairs Ted Locson,
National Economic Devel-
opment Authority (Neda)
Assistant Regional Direc-
tor Efren Carreon, Politi-
cal Science Professor Ricky
Poca and Sr. Supt. Alexan-
der Abadinas, chief of the
Police Community Rela-
tions (PCR) of the Police
Regional Office in Central
Visayas (PRO 7).
But Newman said that
nobody from Malacañang
ordered PIA-7 to start the
discussion on federalism
and neither did they know
anything about the report-
ed road tour of the Char-
ter change movers.
“Amo lang na nga deci-
sion sa (It was our decision
in) PIA 7 as we tackle dif-
ferent issues every week,”
Newman said.
She said they decided to
discuss the federalism is-
sue because President Ar-
royo had stressed in her
recent State of the Nation
Address the importance of
political reform and that
it’s high time to discuss the
NO 39
24 Horoscope
27 Classified
32 Enterprise
34 World
35 Sports
PALACE: FEB.25
WORKING HOLIDAY
M A N I L A — M a l a-
cañang has declared
February 25, the 22nd
anniversary of the 1986
People Power uprising
that restored democra-
cy in the country, as a
working holiday.
" Fe b r u a r y 2 5 i s a
working holiday," Exec-
utive Secretary Eduar-
do Ermita told his
weekly news confer-
ence at the Palace on
Wednesday. / I N Q U I R E R