Barug Team Rama councilors stage boycott of regular session

It was a no show for Barug Team Rama at the Cebu City Council on Tuesday as eight opposition councilors decided to skip the regular council session. The boycott stemmed from a move by Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan to oust Councilor Philip Zafra last week although nothing came out of it. and Zafra remains at the council.
CDN PHOTO/CHRISTIAN MANINGO

CEBU CITY COUNCIL

How can the opposition express their disgust over an administration move to oust one of their own?

For Cebu City councilors affiliated with the opposition Barug Team Rama, the answer came yesterday when all eight of them decided to snob their regular council session just to bring home a point.

The unannounced boycott staged by Councilors Joel Garganera, Jocelyn Pesquera, Pastor Alcover Jr., Jose Daluz III, Eduardo Rama Jr., Raymond Alvin Garcia, James Anthony Cuenco and Philip Zafra caught the camp of Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) by surprise.

But it was business as usual at the Cebu City council as the session proceeded even though half of the council did not show up.

In a letter addressed to Council presiding officer Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, the eight opposition councilors explained that they were not attending the session to protest the “blatant disrespect” committed by BO-PK against Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) president Philip Zafra, an ex-officio member of the council and a Rama supporter.

The protest stemmed from last week’s regular session where Councilor Sisinio Andales (BO-PK) called for Zafra’s resignation as member of the City Council saying that Zafra’s term as ABC president already expired last June 30, 2016.

“What transpired last week was the penultimate display that the mayor and his party is hellbent in securing the reins of power; even to the point of disrespecting the rule of law and the honor and dignity that this Council seeks to preserve,” read the letter.

While the call was later withdrawn by Andales, the Rama group pointed out how Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself “brashly admitted” that BO-PK really wants to oust Zafra.

With this in mind, they expected more political maneuvers from the mayor and his partymates.

“This protest is not an act of abandoning our sacred duty to be the voice of Cebuanos in this hallowed hall. Our protest is just a manifestation of our strong commitment to upholding the independence of this Council and the principles of democratic participation, public accountability, checks and balances, and the rule of law,” the letter further read.

With only eight members of the council present, Labella proceeded to declare a lack of quorum at the start of yesterday’s session. To make a quorum, Labella said, there should be at least 10 members of the City Council in attendance.

But during a recess called by Labella thereafter, BO-PK councilors questioned Labella’s determination of a quorum and insisted on pushing through with the session.

The BO-PK councilors pointed out that there are supposed to be 16 regular members of the City Council plus two more, ABC president Zafra as ex-officio member and Vice Mayor Labella as presiding officer which brings the total number of council members to 18.

Half this number or 9 plus one or 10 makes a quorum.

According to Andales, with the current vacancy due to the resignation of Councilor Hanz Abella who was earlier appointed commissioner of the National Labor Relations Commission (NLRC), the quorum requirement should now be only 9.5 or nine.

Labella tried to contradict Andales’ opinion but decided to go ahead with the session to avoid more delays.

“We just proceeded even if we had a different view in order not to delay (the items in the agenda). We’ll just have the matter resolved later on,” Labella told reporters after the session which went on smoothly without much discussions or objections on the floor.

A scheduled public hearing on a proposed ordinance granting incentives to Cebuano athletes who are able to win in international competitions also pushed through.

Since no one from the camp could push for them, proposed resolutions of Barug Team Rama councilors included in the agenda were not acted upon; while resolutions sponsored by BO-PK councilors sailed on smoothly.

Too much “drama”

Majority floor leader Councilor Margarita Osmeña said that since Zafra has remained with the council, there should have been no more reason for opposition councilors to stage a protest.

“We don’t need this drama. We have a duty. Whatever personal feelings we have, of course you’d always think it’s valid, but there’s something that supersedes that,” she said.

Osmeña pointed out that even during the administration of former mayor Michael Rama when she was “personally insulted” and called names, she did not bring her feelings to the council and continued to show up.

Meanwhile, Andales said that the ABC and barangay captains should not be identified with any political party. If the Rama camp had issues with his move to oust Zafra, Andales said, protesting by not attending the council session was not the proper avenue.

“They should attend the council session. The City Council is not the proper forum for them to protest. They have a sworn duty to attend to their constituents. When we were minority, we would still always attend,” he said.

Sought for comment, Garganera said that Team Rama councilors met last week after Andales called for Zafra’s ouster and decided to stage the protest to express their sentiments.

Their absence, Garganera said, will only be for one session as they will show up next week.

“This is a sign of protest. A one-session protest. We are so disgusted with the way the mayor treats the councilors,” Garganera told reporters, adding that there will be more actions to be taken by them in the next days.

The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Cebu City said there were no violations against DILG regulations committed by the councilors although normally, a councilor who decides to be absent from the session should file a leave.

“ It’s the vice mayor that will approve that. But it would also depend on their house rules,” said DILG Cebu City Director Emma Joyevelyn Calvo.