𝗦𝗘𝗖𝗢𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗣𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗢𝗡 𝗯𝘆 𝗔𝗿𝘃𝗶𝗻 𝗙𝗲𝗿𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗠. 𝗖𝗮𝗯𝗮𝗹𝘂

A GYM worth more than P2 billion, school kits that are worth P64 million, more than P160-million garbage collection contract and a lot more… and now simple concrete barriers worth P20,000 each and around 330 of these were purchased by the city government of Tarlac through a bidding that is said to be rigged.

Wow! Concrete barriers worth that much! Are they made up of gold? Well, these overpricing of everything seems to be the norm under the current city hall administration… aside from being overpriced, the supplier of these barriers is the company allegedly owned by a mayoralty candidate — and this mayoralty candidate is the husband of the city mayor.

According to an article released by a local newspaper Tarlac Forum, the P6.6-million barriers that were placed around the controversial Paliparan Market and in front of SM City-Tarlac are now the subject of investigation by both the Sangguiang Panlungsod and the Commission on Audit.

The man behind the exposé, veteran photojournalist Ver Buan, claimed that the barriers surrounding the Paliparan Market were found to have been illegally installed because they are privately owned and the company that supplied these barriers is Northern Builders, the construction company of the family of mayoral candidate Vic and Mayor Cristy Angeles.

Buan argued that the city government has no right to isolate a property that is still under protest in a court of law. He further raised more issues and ticklish questions such as “on whose authority were the concrete barriers installed?”; “Were they donated? If so, under what terms—cash or kind?”; “Was there an SP resolution approving their acceptance?” and “Were legal procedures followed?”

Indeed, we smell something fishy again in this latest exposé about the apparent anomalous transactions inside of the city hall. I think Buan is right in questioning the purchase of these obviously overpriced concrete barriers because he is a citizen of Tarlac City and a taxpayer — he has, as well as all of us, the right to ask where his taxes go.

When this issue first came out over social media on February 24, it gained immediate reaction from Tarlaqueño netizens and of course, a reaction from the throngs of trolls that the city administration has—trolls that were not able to sanely reason at all, trolls that were part of the bidding process for the controversial barriers and trolls that are an integral part of the city hall’s information office.

Again, the leadership of the city hall is silent on this issue—just like when congressional candidate Vic Yap called on Mayor Cristy to a debate, just like when the city hall was pinned down on the alleged overpriced gymnatorium, just like when the documents that Northern Builders purportedly cornered all construction contract in the city were published, just like when overpriced school kits were raised, just like…and the list goes on and on.

Their trolls and their blind supporters including some barangay officials cannot even answer for Vic and Cristy Angeles because they are fully aware that indeed, there were anomalies in all those controversies and they are fully aware also who benefitted from all those.

The only best thing their trolls can do is to divert the issues. Observe them, they do not answer because they really cannot, therefore, they divert to other fake news issues… by the way, how about the debate that the Yaps are asking the Angeleses? Mading is not the right person to defend them for not answering or accepting the challenge, their trolls are not the right liars to defend them for not answering or accepting the challenge, it is only the mayoral and congressional wannabe’ have the right… but then again, they won’t accept the challenge as they know what will be the result of a Yap-Angeles public debate.

As of this writing, the COA Central Office is deep into their investigation and review by the Fraud Audit Office-Special Services Sector headed by Assistant Commissioner Alexander Juliano.

Oh, how about the Comelec issue of the mayor about vote buying? Well, that is reserved for another story under this column.