Rama to continue Labella’s 10-point agenda

Cebu City vice mayor Mike Rama | CDN Digital file

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama will continue the projects that Mayor Edgardo Labella has started in his term as Rama assumes the full powers as chief executive over the prolonged leave of absence of Labella.

Rama reiterated that as he serves in an acting capacity, he does not wish to take over the Labella administration, but instead treat the position as a stewardship of the city on behalf of the elected mayor.

Labella has been on a straight leave since September 20, 2021, or at least 31 working days already.

READ: Labella’s family breaks silence; talks of ‘real’ state of mayor’s health

Since the indefinite leave of the mayor has reached beyond 30 working days, Rama has officially taken more functions as chief executive of the city including the signing of contracts and soon, the appointing of new office heads to vacated positions.

“I have been very clear not to rock the boat. I have been very clear that until June 30, 2022, this is the term of elected Mayor Edgardo Labella. Knowing nga iya ning termino, then I also have to recheck unsay mga agenda gyod, ang 10 point agenda ni Mayor Edgardo Colina Labella,” said Rama.

Rama promised to continue this 10-point agenda of Labella since they have planned this even before they sat as city officials in 2019 including flooding, business ease, traffic, garbage, education, public safety, the South Road Properties (SRP) development, among others.

READ: Mayor Labella’s 10 goals for Cebu City

The elected vice mayor is determined to take on what the mayor has left behind and to finish what Labella has started before his illness took over even if they do not currently have a clear line of communication.

“There is no more line of communication directly with the mayor. If I have to be honest, the last time I received communication from the mayor was in July. After that, wala na,” he said.

He added that they have not talked personally since July, but it won’t matter because he knows what the mayor envisions for the city.

As of now, Rama is already signing contracts on behalf of the city because the City Council has authorized him to do so through various resolutions.

He plans to talk to Megawide regarding changes in the Joint Venture Agreement (JVA) after the City Council decided there needs to be supplementary additions to the contract.

The acting mayor has already instructed the Local Finance Committee to begin submitting their plans for the 2022 annual budget so he can peruse this as early as now.

Rama has also begun discussing appointment changes to the five departments that lost their managing heads following the election-related resignations including the Cebu City Legal Office (CLO), Department for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), and City Assessor’s Office.

He assured that there will be no drastic changes, but more of a sense of continuity to Mayor Labella’s term.        /rcg

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