City Hall’s new ‘conductor’ chose family over career: Mercado reflects on being a full-time mom and businesswoman

DR, LUCELLE MERCADO

Dr. Lucelle Mercado gave up her medical profession in 1984 to be a full-time mother to her three children.

Domestic duties didn’t stop her from exploring other roles.  She later started her own  export business in fashion accessories and baskets, shipping out a container van  of products every week.

Today, she’s the alter ego of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama overseing daily affairs at City Hall as its first female city administrator.

“Looking back, I would surely take the same path again,” she told Cebu Daily News.

Mercado, 59, credits strong family ties for being able to pursue various roles.

“Family should always come first.  Everything that I do, I do for my family,” she said.

Lucelle said she consults her husband Rene in every major decision, including her accceptance last month of the City Hall post.
Rene, another appointee of the mayor, is chairman of the board of the Metro Cebu Water District (MCWD).

Proof that she made the right decision 30 years ago to put her career in the backburner is the successful paths of their three children.

Son Krpadev,  who finished BS Biology, now runs their family business while Maria Tara is a lawyer at the Manila-based law firm of Romulo Mabanta.

Their youngest child, Maria Chandra, finished a culinary course and operates her own restaurant in Manila.

“But when they come home to Cebu, they still sleep with me,” said  Lucelle.

Sacrifice

Lucelle Mercado worked as an obstetrician-gynecologyst for five years before becoming a full-time home maker in 1984 to take care of their two young children. A year later, she gave birth to a third child.

“Rene observed that the children would be sacrificed if I wouldn’t be a hands-on mother. He told me then that my being a doctor would never be taken away from me but our children will grow.”

In other words, she could always resume her medical practice when the children were older.  She was convinced.

In 1987, Lucelle started her own business. She ventured in the export of fashion accessories and locally woven baskets, including the repair of container vans.  It was a move to fight off boredom, she said, and to keep herself busy while waiting for her children and husband to come home at the end of the day. At one point, she was overseeing 60 workers and had to  subcontract work to cope with orders.

“My business was doing well because I always try to put etiquette in business. I made it a point to give just one design to one client,” said Mercado.

CITY HALL DEALINGS

The Mercados started dealing with the city government when Rene was appointed head of the Coastal Management Resources Board (CMRB), while Rama was serving his third term as vice mayor.

Rene, who worked for a private firm then, is a close friend of Rama and had an active role in his election campaign.

Since their children were already grown up, Lucelle would accompany her spouse on business travels and social functions.

“When you see Rene, you would also see me. People in my husband’s circle don’t treat me as a wife but a part of the group,” she said.

After Rama was elected mayor in 2010, he invited her to chair the City Anti-Indecency Board (CAIB).

“I could not refuse because prior to that there were other offers which I would always decline because I did not want to be involved in City Hall affairs,” she said.

More roles were added.  The mayor put her in charge of more special bodies –  the Garbo Asenso Sumbanan Alyansa, the Task Force Cancer of Cebu City, the Local Health Board, Liquor Licensing Commission, the Accelerated Social Amelioration Program of Cebu City and the Cebu City Nutrition Council.

In Feb. 3, she was appointed city administrator to replace Engr. Eugene Elizalde, who spent less than a month at the post before deciding it was not his cup of tea.
After a month on the job, Lucelle said  the swivel chair still feels strange to her but the work itself is a smooth fit.

“I just do the work of a master conductor at City Hall. All that is needed is pressing the right button to make things work because the department heads are all professionals in their fields. It’s all a matter of linking one another. When the system is oiled well, everything will work,” said Mercado.

She compared it to housekeeping where “you look at even the very small details of your operation like checking on your utilities to make sure there are no leaks.”
Mercado  still wakes up at 6 a.m., a long-time habit from sending off children early to school, and reports to City Hall before 8 a.m.

She shrugs off the powerful platform of the office of City Administrator.
“I never lose touch of the reality that what I have now is just a position. I never put it in my head because I do not see the reason to use it (power) for myself,” she said.

After a month on the job, Mercado said her only regret is  no longer being able to accompany her spouse on travels.  There are also instances that she “misses” the hospital as a workplace.

“I still love the smell of the hospital,” she said.

When her stint as city administrator ends, Mercado said she’s thinking of  retraining and picking up her OBGYN practice.  Or enrolling in law school.
“Age is never a question. What’s important is the desire to learn. I’m never scared to try something new,” she said.