Mao diay wala nay kwarta ng GSIS kay gi invest diay ni Winston Garcia ang kwarta. Pagkalouy sa atong mga impleyado sa goberno labi na tong mga tiguwang nga mga maestra. Pabalikbalikon tawn ni Winston sa GSIS para lang magkuha ug kwarta unya wala pa gyuy madawat kay walay pundo unya gikan pa intawn sa bantayan ug santander. Mohilak nalang intawn kay walay pamiliti.
Mayor Osmena exposed about GSIS lost billions of pesos by investing thru Lehman Brothers
CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday taunted Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) president Winston Garcia to run for mayor so the Cebuanos can see his managerial skills, instead of questioning his competence.
A question raised by Osmeña during his news conference yesterday drew a strong reaction from Winston, who demanded a public apology from the mayor.
Osmeña’s criticisms of the Garcias and the opposition group Kugi Uswag Sugbu (Kusug) came after reports surfaced of a conflict among Kusug leaders and members.
Independent mayoral bet and former Metro Cebu Development Project (MCDP) director Samuel “Sammy” Darza Sr. will hand in his resignation as secretary general of Kusug today.
Supported by presidential aspirant Sen. Manuel Villar, Darza said he will now start selecting from among the Cebu City candidates whom he would endorse, including bets from Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK), Kusug and independent candidates.
Except for “minor” differences with Darza, Kusug leaders former mayor Alvin Garcia and Tinago Barangay Councilor Joel Garganera denied there is any internal conflict in their group.
Alvin said that even if Darza resigns, he will still be considered as a possible standard-bearer of the party, along with Winston.
In his news conference yesterday, Osmeña said he hopes that Winston would decide to run for mayor.
“I hope Winston runs and we’ll see what kind of an expert he is.
Has he recovered what he lost from Lehman Brothers?... I’m just asking a question, I’m not accusing him
of anything,” said the mayor. He declined to elaborate on what he said.
He was referring to the US investment bank Lehman Brothers, one of the first financial institutions to declare bankruptcy at the start of the global economic crisis last year.
Man enough
But Winston was vehement in denying he invested personal funds or any money coming from the state pension fund in the investment firm.
“Mayor Tommy Osmeña is exposing his own ignorance. I challenge him to prove that I invested in Lehman Brothers. It is immature and irresponsible for him to say something like that and I will ask for a public apology from him. I hope he will be fair and man enough to apologize because that is a very unfair accusation,” he said.
Instead of raising false accusations, Winston said it’s the losses in the South Road Properties (SRP) that Osmeña should acknowledge and account for.
He said that the City’s taxpayers lose P700 million a year for debt servicing for the SRP “and all we get is pure mud.”
Winston also pointed out that when he joined GSIS as president and general manager in 2001, its reported assets were just P200 billion. He said this increased to P520 billion in 2008.
In a radio dySS interview yesterday morning, he said that the Garcias are running because of their competence, while the Osmeñas only rely on their family name.
Challenge
“If Winston is so critical of me, why doesn’t he look at what the Province is doing? What investor has Gov. Gwen (Garcia) brought to Cebu? Name names,” said Osmeña.
He challenged Winston, his political opponent businessman Jonathan Guardo and Kusug leaders to show what they have done for Cebu City.
“Anytime he wants to compare what we did for Cebu, anytime, I’ll challenge any Cebuano alive for that matter, including all of them in Kusug, each one of them, to add all their ccomplishments. I will guarantee that I did more than all of them combined, times five,” he said.
In a phone interview yesterday, Darza said that he will submit his resignation letter to Alvin today.
He said he is leaving the group so he can freely decide whom to endorse for congressmen, vice mayor and councilors.
He said another reason for his resignation is that Kusug still has not decided whom to field for mayor and vice mayor and whom to support for president. He also did not agree with the party’s decision to field placeholder candidates for mayor and vice mayor, he said.
“Actually, it’s not that serious a conflict as far as I am concerned... I made it clear that I’m for Villar and they have not made up their mind on whom among the presidential candidates they will support. I cannot wait for them to make that decision so I decided to run as an independent. I will resign to give myself wider options,” Darza said.
Names
He said that he will choose candidates who share his and Villar’s vision for a better Cebu City, and who can bring change and espouse new politics.
“We want to endorse candidates who are competent, hard-working and have integrity,” Darza added.
Alvin, for his part, said that they will still consider Darza one of the possible standard-bearers of Kusug, including himself and Winston.
He considers the differences with Darza as a minor matter that will be resolved soon.
“Walay kaso ni, it’s a very minor matter and it’s still possible that he will be our candidate for mayor. If there is any rift, in the end maklaro ra ning tanan. Our candidates will be known by Dec. 14,” Alvin added.
(LCR)
Mayor Osmena exposed about GSIS lost billions of pesos by investing thru Lehman Broth
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