Cebu City Mayor Michael Lopez Rama | Photo courtesy of Sinulog Foundation Inc.
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama could not help but express his dismay on the ongoing word war involving President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and former President Rodrigo Duterte.
Rama said he finds the “tug-of-war” involving the two UniTeam leaders “unfair” especially to their members.
The Cebu City mayor said that it was still too early for them to fight since it has been barely two years since the group’s creation.
“It’s just quite unfair nga wa pa gani ta kaabot og duha ka tuig sa UniTeam, naa na’y tug-of-war. It’s not fair to the people. It’s not fair to those who supported UniTeam.” Rama said during his “Ingna’ng Mayor” segment that was aired over Sugboanon Channel on February 1.
READ: Marcos-Duterte alliance shaken as battle lines drawn
UniTeam is an electoral alliance that was formed to support the candidacies of now President Marcos and Vice President Sara Duterte and their allies in the 2022 national and local elections.
Rama said that he and the rest of the members of Partido Barug-PDP-Laban in Cebu City made a decision to support the Marcos- Duterte tandem in the last elections because of their thirst for “change.”
United Stance
The Cebu City mayor said he plans to call for a meeting with the other Cebu leaders – Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and the other mayors – with hopes of finding a solution to the Marcos-Duterte dispute.
Rama said he wanted “the whole island of Cebu [to become] the solution” to dispute involving the two leaders.
“October, politika na sad. Mentras tanto wa pa’y SONA, which is July, … let’s act as a solution. We should not be acting (by) not adding fuel to fire,” he said.
Rama said that Gov. Garcia will, of course, act as their leader in having the voices of local officials be heard by the warring UniTeam leaders.
“Basta maminaw sab si Governor namo… kaming mga mayor (of) highly urbanized cities, component cities, municipalities. There should be a consensus. Listening is very important. This (the meeting) should be done very soon.”
READ: Amid Duterte-Marcos verbal spat, public must stay neutral – groups
Rama said it was very important to immediately look into the impact of conflicts among political leaders as he recalled what happened during the implementation of martial law in the country.
He said that he feels strongly about the issue because of his love for his city, the province, and the country.
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