OSMEÑA
CEBU CITY–Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has dared his arch rival, former mayor Michael Rama to undergo lie detector test with him.
He also issued the same challenge to Supt. Romeo Santander, whom he said was rumored to be Rama’s “bagman.”
Both Santander and Rama were in the list of alleged protectors of illegal drugs exposed by President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday.
“I am publicly challenging Mr. Michael Rama to a lie detector test. He said the truth will set him free? Let’s see about that,” said Osmeña in his 11 a.m. Facebook post.
“Nganong kinahanglanon man na (Why is that necessary),” was Rama’s reply when sought for comment.
But if needed, he added, he was prepared to take the test.
Rama called a press conference in his residence in Barangay Basak San Nicolas on Tuesday morning to announce that he visited to the Philippine Drug Enforcement Agency (PDEA) head office on Monday morning.
He said someone whom he refused to name, advised him to appear at the PDEA office to clear his name and ask for evidence that would link him to Cebu drug operations.
Rama, who refused to identify the person he spoke with at the PDEA office, said they did not have any evidence to show him.
Osmeña said on his FB post that after Cebuano drug lord Jeffrey “Jaguar” Diaz was killed in June, Rama raised accusations that Osmeña had Diaz liquidated “to cover up his dealings with me.”
“After the President himself named Mr. Rama as a drug protector, they repeated the same thing in his defense. Well, who let Jaguar prosper the 6 years he was mayor?”
Osmeña was referring to the last six years where Rama sat as mayor but failed to stop Diaz’s alleged illegal drug activities.
“In the interest of transparency, I am willing to sacrifice my civil liberties and will submit to the test at the same time as him. I challenge Supt. Romeo Santander, Mr. Rama’s alleged bagman who I alluded to in my most recent presscon, to submit to the same test as well,” said Osmeña’s FB post.
Osmeña wanted their test broadcast live on the internet and administered by the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) or any national agency capable of doing so.
“If the President wants to pick the administering agency, that’s fine with me. I have nothing to hide. Do they?”