Cebu City Councilor Jose Abellanosa taking his oath. | Contributed photos
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City opposition Councilors Jose Abellanosa and Nestor Archival will be two of the six members of the upcoming 16th Sangguniang Panglungsod making up the minority floor.
Neophyte Councilor Jose Abellanosa is taking his seat as the only opposition member for the South District.
Abellanosa took his oath on June 20, 2022, in front of the Court of Appeals Associate Justice Marilyn Lagura-Yap, opting to take the oath separately from fellow party mates at the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK).
In a phone interview with CDN Digital, Abellanosa said that as a neophyte councilor, he looks ups to his fellow members of the councils both his party mates and the administration bloc.
“Karon, sa atong kahimtang, it is known by everybody nga ako nalay nabilin sa atong partido diri sa South District. So it would be a priority for us to help the South District in general regardless of party,” said the new councilor.
Abellanosa said he wants to focus on livelihood and education and is willing to work with Mayor Michael Rama, Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia, and the administration on these focus areas.
In spite of cooperating with the administration, Abellanosa assured that he will be a “check-and-balance” for the City Council in making decisions.
Councilor Nestor Archival | CDN FILE PHOTO
Councilor Archival, the current minority floor leader, said that just as before, he will push for environmental sustainability and clean energy.
Archival said that he wants to push for the installation of a solar panel plant in the city as well as the eventual transition from the current fuel-run vehicles to electric cars.
“Kahibaw ta nga ang gasoline, diesel, fuel, di na gyod ni monaog ang presyo, kung monaog man gani gamay ra kaayo. Kung ato ra ni pasagdan, di ta mohimog proactive action, mag-anam ka dako atong gasto sa gasolina.”
“Being an advocate of electric vehicle, we suggest that he will have something like a proof of concept aron makahimo tag lakang sa city government nga maminimize or matangtang na nato ang fuel or gasolina or diesel,” said Archival.
The councilor said that P300 worth of charging an electric car can run up to 300 kilometers. This is massively lower in cost as compared to gasoline, which will take P3,000 to P4,000 to reach the same mileage.
This is why the councilor is pushing for solar energy as panels can be installed everywhere, providing free energy to the public and eventually, electric cars.
“What I’m going to do is I’m going to make a resolution asking the mayor to be proactive kay dako na kaayo tag gasto sa gasolina. Akong nahibalan kay P200 million but it can go up to P400 million,” said Archival.
The experienced councilor hopes Mayor Rama will consider this project since it is high time for Cebu City to think of sustainability.
/ bmjo
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