Shadow officials of Rama running Cebu City Hall?
Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Are there shadow officials running the 27 departments in Cebu City on behalf of Acting Mayor Michael Rama?
CDN Digital was furnished a copy of a concerned employee, who has sought anonymity, to the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Civil Service Commission (CSC) over the alleged appointment of shadow officials in the city government.
In the letter dated November 12, 2021, the employee urged the DILG and CSC to investigate the appointment of these shadow officials that had taken over the City Hall departments.
He noted that the acting mayor announced this appointment of shadow officials in a November 8, 2021, speech during the flag ceremony, and the mayor said then that employees should, “collaborate, cooperate, and coordinate with these overseers otherwise risk being disciplined, replaced, or terminated.”
Here is a full copy of the letter furnished to CDN Digital on November 15, 2021.
A letter from a concerned Cebu City Hall employee.
“The act of the Acting Mayor has caused confusion among the employees and work disruption within the departments of the City Hall considering that these shadow officials he assigned are giving out instructions and performing functions as if they are duly appointed heads of offices.”
“We, the City Hall employees, are afraid that if we do not follow the orders of these shadow officials, we will be disciplined or terminated,” said the employee.
The employee claimed that the shadow officials did not have accountability because they were not duly appointed.
CDN Digital has tried to reach DILG to get their confirmation if this letter has been received by their office, but the agency has not yet responded to queries.
Rama: No shadow officials
For his part, Acting Mayor Rama told CDN Digital that there were no “shadow officials” in the departments. Instead, he had assigned “overseers” to monitor the departments and help them through coordination in his office.
He admitted that he had yet to trust the 27 department heads appointed by on-leave Mayor Edgardo Labella because he was not there at their original appointments.
“There are no shadow officials, but I am only bringing partners, collaborators, cooperators, coordinators, and at the same time overseers. There is no paper assignment, therefore, there is nothing illegal about it,” said the acting mayor.
He also criticized that the letter was anonymous, bringing into question its validity because no legitimate person was claiming accountability of the letter.
Still, Rama denied that the overseers had caused any disruptions in the departments because their jobs were not to run the department, but only to coordinate and collaborate.
In fact, the overseers were already employees of the City Hall or consultants, who had been assigned to the specific departments to oversee the operations, and not to run them, he said.
Rama said the reason for assigning these overseers was, in the fact, that he could not give his full trust and confidence yet to the department heads, despite his promise not to “rock the boat” in Labella’s absence.
“How can I automatically have trust and confidence? I have not been part of their appointment. I cannot be telling you that I have trust and confidence. It goes without saying that I have to trust them yet,” he said.
The acting mayor appeals to the City Hall employees to be at ease with these new overseers as he is only trying to ensure that services go smoothly and the programs are up and running.
He assured them that there would be no disruption in the departments, and they would simply need to do as they had already done including the proper collaborations with his office overseers.
Rama said that if the letter reached DILG and CSC, he would answer the allegations properly.
Right after the flag raising ceremony on Monday, November 15, Rama, who would be taking a two-week leave of absence, urged City Hall employees not to make “the mouse play” while Acting Vice Mayor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros assumed the city’s top position starting Tuesday afternoon, November 16.
Rama, who would be having a vacation leave, asked them not to test his patience that might lead him to “rock the boat.”
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