‘Reckless expenditure of public funds’

Allow me to comment on Rina Jimenez David’s column titled “Religion, hate and diapers” (Opinion, 1/11/15). David wrote: “If the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) traffic personnel or their bosses feel adult diapers are the way to go, let’s leave it at that and wish them all the luck. Let’s not obsess about their underwear. It’s none of our business how they do their business.”

Excuse me! Of course, it is our business! MMDA Chair Francis Tolentino mindlessly spent about P120,000 of the people’s money (our money!) for the purchase of those diapers. It would have surely been none of our business if he dug into his own pocket or asked for donors to pay for his stupid idea. (I say stupid because as it turned out, nobody wanted to use those bulky diapers. If the traffic enforcers did, they would have had to forget about wearing their tight pants and use skirts instead! What was Tolentino thinking?)

Motorists like me work our tails off to make a living, weaving through impossible traffic every day to avoid being late for work. When we do get tickets for some flimsy or imagined traffic violations, we grudgingly but dutifully make time to line up to pay the fines.

Thus, when we hear things like this, clearly telling us in the face how money extorted from us is being wasted like nobody’s business, it makes us very, very furious! Tolentino should reimburse the public coffers for the money he wasted or be charged with some offense involving reckless expenditure of public funds!

—MARITES DELA MERCED,

[email protected]