Cebu City Council fails to hold regular session

Only two members of the council physically present in session hall

Cebu City vice mayor Mike Rama | CDN Digital file

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Council failed to hold a regular session on Wednesday, June 3, 2020, after only two members of the council were physically present in the session hall.

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, the presiding officer, told CDN Digital that the session could not push through even if majority of the council members could attend the session online, because the council had agreed to hold the session physically.

Those who were physically present among the 18 members were Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia and Councilor Jerry Guardo.

“It is already the General Community Quarantine. We cannot keep hiding when people are already going out,” said the vice mayor.

He reiterated that the council agreed to return to holding physical sessions now that the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been lifted.

The vice mayor also released a memorandum earlier, informing the council members that the session will be held at the session hall. Still, no one came on Wednesday.

The council was supposed to tackle the Supplemental Budget Number 3 amounting to P3.2 billion, which was proposed by Mayor Edgardo Labella. This has been stuck in the council for two weeks now.

Rama also said there will be no special session to be held this week and the regular session will go on as scheduled next week.

He urged the council members to be present this time as not to create backlogs on the session agenda. /bmjo