Ople to MMDA: "Stop idiotic war of colors!"

Tuesday, 23 March 2010 06:23

Nacionalista Party (NP) senatorial bet Susan "Toots" Ople admonished the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) for wasting valuable public funds for the "greening" of Metro Manila amidst the threat of rising unemployment due to the power crisis affecting Visayas and Mindanao as well as the northern Luzon.

Ople described the repainting of all pink structures and signs to green as an "act of lunacy" in light of government's ballooning budget deficit and foreign borrowings.

"This idiotic war over colors is a colossal waste of taxpayers' money. The MMDA should consider the message it is sending out to millions of Filipinos living under the poverty line, and so many others threatened with job losses due to an unresolved power crisis," the former labor undersecretary said.

Ople noted that MMDA Chair Oscar Inocentes can be credited with the most expensive metaphor of our times. "His statement that green symbolizes environmental growth fails to justify the multi-million expenditures involved in this latest paint job."

The OFW and labor advocate called on the MMDA to consider using its funds to provide jobs to out-of-school youth for the repair of street lamps as well as other minor road and traffic maintenance projects.

She said that the best way for the MMDA to promote its "green ideology" is to ensure the protection and preservation of trees and other plants in the metropolis.