Partisan politics in Rama’s suspension

Think Bits

Cebu Daily News recently reported that Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and 12 councilors face a six-month suspension in relation to the allocation of P20,000 calamity aid to employees and officials alike.

The suspension order came from the Office of the President to which the mayor’s opponents elevated their case in order to allow the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) to seize power and run the city government.

The Office of the President is clearly a partisan political office that is insensitive to the sentiments of the incumbent administration at City Hall and only heed the demands of those who wish to dislodge Rama, a duly-elected official.

The Team Rama camp has several remedies here. One of them is to seek the intervention of the courts and the other being People Power to stop the national government from committing abuse by suspending the mayor and his allies.

Of course the suspension cannot be implemented yet because of the election period and it needs the approval of the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for it to be implemented.

But Malacañang can always use its power to pressure the Comelec to approve their recommendation, and we can see if indeed the Comelec can be pressured into giving in to their request.

Though the Comelec has shown several times that it cannot be pressured like the Ombudsman, as it didn’t recognize the Ombudsman’s decisions on matters involving erring public officials.

Let us all pray that the Office of the President should be enlightened and avoid kowtowing to the whims of its political allies. They should not allow themselves to be dictated by some selfish politician who wants to take over City Hall by any means other than election and this controversy shall be resolved peacefully.

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Allow me to congratulate Saranggani Rep. Manny Pacquiao for his convincing unanimous win over American Timothy Bradley.

Pacquaio proved to all that indeed he is the better boxer as he methodically defeated Bradley.
Admittedly Pacquiao’s victory will help him tremendously in his run for the Senate.

I am pretty sure the Filipinos are going to reward his hard work and indomitable spirit that he has shown in the boxing arena with support in the forthcoming election.

Pacquiao’s victory once again made us proud Filipinos. Thank you, Manny Pacquiao, for your victory against Timothy Bradley. You just proved to everyone that poverty cannot stop one from achieving his dreams and aspirations through hard work and determination.

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In the latest SWS survey, it showed that Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is now leading the presidential race with 27 percent, edging out front runner Grace Poe who got 23 percent followed by Vice President Binay with 20 percent and the administration bet Mar Roxas in fourth place with 18 percent.

In the vice presidential race, Senator Bongbong Marcos already overtook Sen. Chiz Escudero with 26 percent compared to Escudero’s 21 percent.

Now I don’t know if the trend will continue, but suffice it to say that the result in the recent survey is indeed a revelation of the sentiment of the people toward the candidates.

In Duterte’s case, I think the people liked the promise of change in the lives of the Filipinos especially against illegal drugs. Duterte’s railings against the Aquino administration on graft and corruption grabbed the public’s attention.

Also the Visayans and those in Mindanao feel that it is high time someone from Mindanao take over the Palace and not another candidate from Imperial Manila lording over the rest of the country, making decisions and policies that don’t reflect the sentiments of those outside of Luzon.

Duterte is perceived as a savior by a growing number of Filipinos especially those in the south.
In the vice presidential race, Sen. Bongbong Marcos has played the role of underdog so well that it had deflected whatever criticism and attacks launched by his critics against him and his family’s legacy.

I’m just hopeful that the Filipino people would vote wisely and elect a president who speaks for the entire country and not just for Metro Manila.