FORMER Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is not afraid of the possibility that he might be the next target of an ambush after Daanbantayan Mayor Vicente Loot, and his family, were attacked by still unidentified assailants last Sunday morning at the Maya Port in Barangay Maya, Daanbantayan.
“It’s a good thing that I talked with the President. The difference with me and Mayor Loot is that I had the chance to talk to the President,” Rama told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview yesterday.
Both were named by President Rodrigo Duterte as coddlers and protectors of drug lords and were in his list of narco-politicians.
Rama, however, refused to divulge details about his meeting with President Duterte for security reasons. He was also tight-lipped when asked if he intends to hire security personnel for his own safety.
“Also, we’re not being complacent. Threats? I don’t need to worry about them because you’ll get used to them once you’re in politics,” added Rama.
Both Rama and Loot were tagged by President Duterte as alleged drug-protectors in 2016, but they denied the accusations. After several attempts, Rama finally met with President Duterte last March to convince the latter to remove his name from the list of so-called narco-politicians in the country.
The ambush on Loot happened two months after Wellington Lim, brother of alleged drug lord Peter Lim was also ambushed by still unidentified gunmen who peppered his van with bullets. Wellington escaped unharmed as his vehicle was bulletproof.
The Daanbantayan Police Station is still trying to identify Loot’s assailants.
Loot’s vehicle was peppered with bullets. His driver and nanny of his grandchildren were hurt. His wife, former Daanbantayan Mayor Maria Luisa
Loot, his stepson Cebu 4th District Provincial Board (PB) member Sun Shimura, and at least five of his grandchildren, all of whom were on board the Toyota Grandia van, were unharmed.
Rama, on the other hand, was also the subject of threats.
A week after lawyer Jonnah John Ungab was killed last February, a tarpaulin was put up on the side of the skywalk in Barangay Pardo, Cebu City, that showed the photo of Rama, with Ungab and Rolando Espinosa Sr., mayor of Albuera town in Leyte.
It was a 2016 photo of Rama’s oath-taking as member of the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) party before Espinosa. Ungab, vice mayor of Ronda town and lawyer of Espinosa’s son, alleged drug lord Kerwin, looked on.
Albeit admitting that he was “a little bit worried” about the poster, Rama told reporters that he will not be slowed down by any threats.