WILL RAMA OBEY?
A 60-day preventive suspension order against Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is served by Rene Burdeos (2nd from right), regional director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG-7) and lawyer Aiiza Fiel A. Arcenal-Nogra who tape it on the glass door of the mayor’s office in City Hall. The mayor’s staff refused to receive the document. The DILG said posting the order was sufficient. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
Mayor is ‘on leave’ till today; Palace order is taped on City Hall door
Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is back in town but left many guessing yesterday whether he would comply with a 60-day preventive suspension order issued by Malacanang.
He was not around when the order was served at City Hall past 10:30 a.m. yesterday. His staff refused to receive it.
The document was instead taped on the glass door of his office, since Rama didn’t show up all day.
A second order of the Office of the President was posted on the door of Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, directing him to take over as acting mayor.
Labella didn’t report to City Hall all day either.
Both officials were reluctant to accept that their roles have drastically changed and that Rama would have to stay at the sidelines until early February next year.
Still time for a good laugh. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (left) points to the Robinsons logo sticker on the barong of Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and jokes that the prominent letter “R” stands for “Rama.” Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and Frederick Go, president and COO of Robinsons Land, behind them, share the light moment during the opening of Robinsons Galleria Cebu. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)
“He’s still on leave till Friday,” said the mayor’s ally, former councilor Jocelyn Pesquera, in a radio dyAB interview. The lawyer said the order was not yet in effect.
She said Rama would face the Cebuanos today and issue a statement on the suspension.
These actions raised the question whether Rama and the vice mayor would comply with Malacañang’s order, which supporters criticized as “politically motivated” and deliberately timed to cripple Rama’s reelection bid in 2016.
VALID SERVICE
Regional Director Rene Burdeos of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) who posted both documents on the doors said the order was considered “validly served” and in effect.
“It’s okay (even if Rama is not in his office). The rules of court allow that if he’s not there or if he doesn’t receive the order, we can tender it to his staff. And if they don’t receive it, we can post it in his office which we did. It’s still a valid service,” Burdeos said.
He said the DILG 7 received the order Wednesday evening and waited for Rama to return from his trip to Paris to serve it.
The order dated December 2 was signed by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa, Jr. on behalf of President Aquino.
NEED GUIDANCE
A smiling Mayor Rama emerged past 5 p.m. at the formal opening of the Robinsons Galleria Cebu as a special guest with Vice Mayor Labella, and mingled with top company executives of the Gokongwei business empire.
“I’m still seeking clarification from the DILG regional director,” Labella told reporters on the sidelines of the event.
“I want to be guided on what to do considering that the mayor is still on official leave from December 2 to 11,” he said.
On stage, Rama appeared jovial, saying this was “ a happy day” and praised the new mall, which is Robinsons’ biggest outside Manila, as the “arrival of a new icon in Cebu”.
Throughout the launch program, both officials were introduced by their pre-suspension titles of “mayor” and “vice mayor”.
Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale who were also present didn’t make any correction and greeted Rama warmly at the reception. They joined him on stage in a ceremonial switch-on of the lighting of the mall’s main Christmas tree.
In his speech, Rama said he made it a point to cut short his 14-day trip to Paris for a Climate Change Conference to be back in Cebu for the Dec. 10 mall launch.
He recalled that the mall is built on land acquired from the Cebu city government at the North Reclamation Area about seven years ago and that the roads, lights and drainage around it were all financed by the company, not City Hall.
Disclaimer: The comments uploaded on this site do not necessarily represent or reflect the views of management and owner of Cebudailynews. We reserve the right to exclude comments that we deem to be inconsistent with our editorial standards.
