Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will present the city’s plan to develop the Doña Pepang cemetery in barangay Carreta, Cebu City into a public park to the owners of the mausoleums and the relatives of the dead at City Hall at 10 a.m. today.
Today’s public consultation comes amid former mayor Tomas Osmeña’s promise to pursue his petition for a temporary restraining order on the project despite an adverse ruling by Regional Trial Court branch 9 Judge Alexander Acosta.
“The TRO was denied because City Hall promised not to demolish on Sunday,” Osmeña said in a radio interview.
Judge Acosta accepted the assurance of Collin Rosell, chief of the Cebu City Division for the Welfare of the Urban Poor (DWUP), that the city government won’t remove any graves until after the consultation is held.
Osmeña said Rama doesn’t have the authority to enforce the demolition of tombs.
“Ug mobalik ko sa (Once I return to) City Hall I will work on the restorations of the demolished cemeteries. Pero sa pagka karon wala pa koy mahimo (But for now I cannot do anything),” he said.
He also promised families displaced by the demolition of the Lorega San Miguel Cemetery and those to be displaced by the planned demolition of the Doña Pepang cemetery that he will allow them to come back if he becomes mayor.
But when asked if he intends to challenge Rama’s second re-election in 2016, Osmeña said the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) has yet to decide who to field as mayoral candidate.
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