How Rama became Sinulog chairman; Post used to be held by VM Osmeña

SINULOG Foundation Inc. was registered as a non-stock-non-profit foundation with the Securities and Exchange Commission in 1984.

Its Articles of Incorporation and by laws provide for a chairman who shall preside in all meetings of the officers of the corporation.

A separate president is elected by a 14-member board of trustees.

The president has specific duties to exercise general supervision over the other officers and staff, and exercise powers and duties as the board of trustees delegate. (At present, the president is Engr. Pericles Dakay.)

There is no mention in the by-laws that the chairman of the board is necessarily the mayor of Cebu City. The chairman can be any trustee elected to the position.

A provision on “vacancies and delegation of officers” provides that if an officer’s post becomes vacant, trustees by a majority vote may choose a successor to hold office for the unexpired term.

In case of a temporary absence, the board may delegate power and duties to another officer or any trustee for the time being.

The executive director, currently Ricky Ballesteros, is elected by the board to “manage the day-to-day affairs of the Foundation.”

Ballesteros explained to Cebu Daily News that when the foundation was formed in 1984, the vice mayor at the time, Renato Osmeña, joined the board since he was also chairman of the city’s Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission (CHAC). He was given full authority by then Mayor Tomas Osmena to be overall Sinulog chairman.

Since then, each vice mayor has joined the foundation’s board of trustees until Michael Rama, as vice mayor, came on board in 2001. Ballesteros joined the foundation in 2002.

When Rama was elected mayor in 2010, he remained on the board, according to Ballesteros since then vice mayor Joy Augustus Young declined to be part of the Sinulog Foundation Inc. board.

The SFI chairman is elected from among the board members, said Ballesteros.

“You have to be a member of the board. At the same time, whoever sits as city mayor is the honorary chairman.

Though we are a private institution, we need support from the city because the city oversees everything like traffic, peace and order, crowd control, cleanliness and sanitation,” Ballesteros said.