Rama reiterates call for unity to achieve his dream of a Singapore-like Cebu City
Cebu City Hall
CEBU CITY, Philippines — “Disregard the delineation.”
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama made this call to councilors as he delivered his congratulatory message to the 16th Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) or the 16th Cebu City Council during its reorganizational session on Wednesday afternoon, July 5, 2023.
“I’ve been very clear. In this council, there is the minority and the majority. Disregard the delineation. Fiscalizers perhaps, be converted, if possible. Di nako kinahanglan mo explain ninyo kay mga bright man mo,” Rama said.
At present, 12 of the Council members, including its presiding officer, Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, are allied with the Mayor Rama, who was elected under the Barug-PDP Laban party.
The six others are with the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) of former mayor Tomas Osmeña. These are Minority Floor Leader Councilor Nestor Archival Sr., Assistant Minority Floor Leader Joy Augustus Young as assistant minority floor leader and Councilors Mary Ann de los Santos, Jose Abellanosa, Franklyn Ong and Jessica Resch.
The City Council consists of the Vice Mayor, 16 elected Councilors and two ex-officio members, Ong, who is the current president of the the Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) and Resch, the Sanguniang Kabataan Federation (SKF) president.
In his speech, Rama commended Council members for their “sterling performance” in the last 12 months or a year since their election in May 2022. Elected city officials assumed office on July 1, 2022.
At the same time, he reiterated his call for unity, which is the key to achieving his dream of having a Singapore-like city.
But while Rama calls for unity and as the City Council enters its second year, minority Councilors were still left out of the committee chairmanships.
Though, Delos Santos and Abellanosa were given already committee memberships.
De los Santos is now a member of the Committee on Youth and Sports Development, chaired by Councilor Jessica Resch, as a replacement for Councilor Rey Gealon.
Abellanosa, on the other hand, is now a member of the Committee on Labor, Employment, Cooperative, and Livelihood, also replacing Gealon. Councilor Edgardo Labella II continues to hold the position of committee chairman.
In his speech, Rama also thanked the council members for enacting the city’s ‘historical’ P50 billion annual budget which he earmarked for programs, projects, and activities that would help in the achievement of his dream of having a Singapore-like Cebu City.
“Colleagues in public service, let me congratulate [you for] your sterling performance… And I need your help. I cannot do it alone. I cannot do it. Let me be very clear in my thanks for passing the P50 billion budget approved by DBM only with little… it’s still almost P50 billion,” he said.
Earlier, the Department of Budget and Management in Central Visayas (DBM-7) has declared the Appropriation Ordinance (AO) for Cebu City’s P51.457 billion 2023 annual budget as “inoperative in part” due to the excess amount appropriated for the Recovery and Rehabilitation of Infrastructure Works under the Local Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Fund over the amount provided in the Annual Investment Program for the same Program/Project/Activity.
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/dcb
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