Unmask abusive officials and don't re-elect them - Gordon

With the May 13 midterm elections barely a fortnight away, Senator Richard J. Gordon urged the public to unmask abusive incumbent officials and advised voters against re-electing them.

"Kilalanin natin ng husto ang mga kandidato natin. Dapat tanggalan ng maskara ang mga taong nagsasamantala sa bayan, mga taong subok na sa katiwalian, pati mga taong binabayaran para tumahol at magkalat ng puro paninira. Dapat silang mahubaran ng maskara para mabunyag sa taumbayan ang kanilang pang-aabuso para hindi na sila muling iluklok sa pwesto," he said.

Gordon stressed that public servants should place the welfare of constituents first by ensuring the efficient delivery of public services instead of how they can line their own pockets, adding that the constituents should make their officials account for their actions.

To stress his point, the senator cited the rank abuse practiced in the plantilla of employees at the city hall of Olongapo City, where kin, relatives and friends of the mayor and some councilors are employed under the Office of the Mayor and the Office of the City Council, respectively, and are grossly overpaid even if they do not possess the necessary qualifications for the posts they have been appointed to.

He also pointed to the medicine anomaly at the James L. Gordon Memorial Hospital, a public hospital in the said city which was earlier reported by the Commission on Audit. Since 2014, COA has repeatedly called the attention of Olongapo City and JLGMH officials on irregularities and anomalies on the purchase of drugs and medical supplies, with over P207-million purchases of drugs and medical supplies from 2014 to 2016 highly irregular. Each year, the City Government failed to take action on COA's recommendations.

"Dapat ang tao ang No. 1 sa kanila, hindi ang bulsa nila ang No. 1 sa kanila. Kaya silipin niyo ang budget ng lokal na pamahalaan niyo para makita niyo kung ano ang binibigyan ng priority ng inyong mga opisyal, kung saan talaga napupunta ang pera ng bayan o kung may mga anomalya silang ginawa," the senator said.

"Maayos ba ang mga ospital niyo, may sapat na mga doktor at mga nars? May mga gamot ba ang mga health center niyo? Maaayos ba ang mga eskwela sa lugar niyo, pati mga teachers? May mga ilaw ba ang mga kalsada niyo? Kumusta naman ang peace and order? Mga yan ba ang mga prayoridad ng mga leader niyo o inuuna nila ang pagpapasahod ng matataas sa mga anak, kamag-anak, kaibigan o taga-tahol nila? Kailangan ang iboboto niyo ay maaasahan niyo na may malasakit sa bayan," he added.