After weeks of playing it safe, Team Rama brought to the floor its bid to reorganize the the City Council last Wednesday.
The result was not what they expected.
Outvoted 9-8 by the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), they failed to capture the committe leadership of the budget committee headed by Councilor Margot Osmeña and committee on laws headed by Sisinio Andales.
One holds the power of the purse while the other committee has a vital role in enacting local ordinances.
Osmeña’s budget committee has not been generous at all with Mayor Mike Rama.
Flexing its muscles a day after the foiled coup of Rama allies, the BO-PK-led council slashed by more than half the proposed supplemental budget 2 (SB2) of the mayor.
Instead of P501 million, Rama, the City Council only approved P243 million.
Last Wednesday, after parrying Team Rama’s attempted power grab, it was no surprise that the BO-PK councilors responded by making sure the three defectors Gerry Carillo, Noel Wenceslao and Ritchie Osmeña would lose their committee leaderships.
The threat of losing BO-PK Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias turned out to be a dud after he voted in favor of the BO-PK.
Whatever was Cabarrubias’ reason for staying put, only he and the BO-PK know.
One thing is certain though, Rama’s camp was outmaneuvered.
Given time, and an addditional vote from a forthcoming defector, would Team Rama succeed in wresting control of the City Council?
That bears watching.
It’s not just the mayor’s party that is raiding the BO-PK. It would seem that BO-PK is making moves to soften the loyalties of Rama’s men and women.
The BO-PK’s gesture of giving the committe on hospitals to Team Rama’s Councilor Mary Ann Delos Santos is an interesting turn.
Cuenco, the only Team Rama ally heading a committe, was allowed to keep his tourism committee.
Three or four months ago, it was difficult to imagine members of the BO-PK crossing the fence, which only shows the power balance in City Hall remains fluid.
In last Wednesday’s showdown, the usually cool Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella raised his voice to remind an emotional BO-PK councilor to “to please behave.”
The City Council has reached a point where it’s a matter of who blinks first.
City legislators, however, need to remember that above engaging in partisan politics, they have a mandate from Cebuano voters’ to act in the best interest of the community.
They will be measured by how they fulfill that mandate, not by whose group holds the most power.