Tomas Osmena said he haled Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama to court to correct the misimpression that it was he – during his time as the city’s mayor — who planned the conversion of the Doña Pepang Cemetery into a public park.
“He has a naughty way of playing around with words. I would not demolish my own cemetery. Is he nuts? He really thinks that I want to demolish my father’s grave?” Osmeña told Cebu Daily News.
Osmeña clarified that when he authorized the land swap with the Archdiocese of Cebu when he was still mayor, the agreement only covered an exchange of properties.
He said he agreed to the swap since roads leading to the cemetery were already deteriorating and he wanted to repair them but the Archdiocese had no funds for this.
Osmeña said he never made any public declaration that he wanted the cemetery converted into a public park.
“I do not believe in kicking out the bones of the dead,” he said.
He said the removal of illegal structures is not the correct solution to clear the area of illegal occupants.
“There is a procedure to be followed for that,” Osmeña said.
Mayor Rama for his part, insisted that he was just implementing a development plan that was on City Hall’s drawing board during Osmeña’s time.
“Why will it be put on hold when he didn’t even put it on hold when he became mayor? He was even encouraging that project,” he said.
Rama showed reporters a copy of a 2008 letter from Osmeña to then Cebu Archbishop Ricardo Cardinal Vidal asking for a donation for the city to put up a “beautiful park” along M.J. Cuenco Ave.
“We already conducted a preliminary discussion with an architect for the preparation of the design. We envision to make this park a tourist spot,” he said. To avoid auditors questioning the budget outlay for a park, ‘ it is imperative that the land must be owned by the City of Cebu,” Osmeña’s letter to Vidal dated July 16, 2008 said.
Referring to the letter, Rama said: “That’s his signature. Why is he suing me? Why didn’t he file a case against himself?”
Rama said the city needs more parks and open spaces.
“Why won’t I like it when you put order in the area where there are more living inside than the dead?” Rama said.
The mayor said more discussions are ahead.
“This should be step by step. Meetings will be done, and I should be there. I have to bring them to understand. A document will not tell a lie, only liars will not believe on document. It’s not my signature, it’s his,” Rama said.
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