DAVAO CITY –— A newbie town mayor in Davao Oriental established a suggestion box at the municipal hall for his constituents to raise issues, concerns and new ideas before him.
This, after Caraga town Mayor Ronnie S. Osnan on July 23, 2022 discovered truck loads of rotten food packs and spoiled rice hidden inside an office which he did not reveal.
The rotten food packs and spoiled rice were stock in a storage room , he believes it has been there and remained undelivered for a long period.
The food packs contained rice, sardines and noddles, the usual stuff given at the peak of the pandemic and/or during elections.
Osnan might have an idea who was responsible and what agency was involved but he opted to keep it before the public as he knows, the procurement of said goods involved public funds and he does not want to pull the strings and avoid controversy.
Osnan in an interview with Newsline revealed, hundreds of rotten food packs and sacks of rice spoiled rice were uncovered barely a month after he assumed office.
During the interview, Osnan said he does not want to dig deeper on the issue saying it will just divide his people, instead, he put up a suggestion box for people to open up and for his governance to be transparent and accountable to the people.
The local government used a backhoe to burry the rotten and spoiled stuff, he said “because it is no longer good for human consumption.”
“I put up suggestion box for people to send me suggestions how do I manage the town because I am new in this job, I will listen to them and if they have complaint against an employee or the way I manage the local government they can raise it without seeing me,” he said in vernacular.
His office, osnan said, will listen to the people and make sure their concerns are properly attended.
With the installation of the suggestion box, OSnan believes people can freely share to him their concerns and their predicament as he vowed to work for the welfare of his people.
The Caraga town is the oldest municipality of Davao Oriental, it was born on October 29, 1903 through an Organic Act, it has 17 villages.
The town is considered the paradise of the Mandaya tribe.-Editha Z. Caduaya
