Cebu City Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr.
Cebu City Councilor Eduardo Rama Jr. called on Mayor Tomas Osmeña for discrediting his great grandfather, Don Vicente Rama’s efforts in the city’s charter.
In a privilege speech during the council’s regular session on Tuesday afternoon, Rama said that what the mayor did was “rewrite history” when he decided to give credit to former Councilor Gervasio Lavilles as the “brains” of the Cebu City Charter instead of Don Vicente.
“What Tomas Osmeña is trying to do and what he did this week, was to take advantage of his position to manipulate the public’s mind by rewriting history,” Rama said in his speech.
He pointed out though that he did not intend to undermine the contribution of Lavilles who authored Resolution No. 185, which was passed on Aug. 31, 1931, calling on the Senate and the House of the Representatives to enact a law converting the then Municipality of Cebu into a city.
Osmeña, in his Charter Day speech last Friday, said that Lavilles was the one who “did all the work” for the city’s charter. Osmeña added “naay laing mga tawo nga moangkon” (there are other people claiming).
Rama described this statement as “uncalled for”.
He added that legally, a resolution does not result in the creation of a city charter.
Rama said it was Don Vicente who authored and submitted a bill for the city’s charter in Congress.
“Yes, I do agree that we should commend Atty. Lavilles but does that mean in doing so that we should discredit Vicente Rama? Why can’t we just commend everyone who played their part?” Rama said in his speech.
“Why do we have to say that giangkon sa usa (it was claimed by one person)? Where’s proof of that? Another unbacked claim. It’s obvious, he’s not about correcting history but about rewriting it with ill intentions,” he added.