‘BE GRACIOUS IN DEFEAT’

Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama, in this photo taken on May 12, covers his face in seeming despair as he insists he was cheated when he lost in his reelection bid to former city mayor Tomas Osmeña. (CDN PHOTO/TONEE DESPOJO)

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma yesterday urged losing candidates in the recently concluded national and local races to be “gracious in defeat,” a call that the prelate made just as Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is set to mount a protest over his loss in the city’s mayoral race.

Palma said that while Rama has the right to appeal or to ask for a recount of the result of the elections, the reality was that there will always be a winner and a loser in any electoral exercise.

“Ang atong point ani is among paglantaw, not questioning siguro certain realities but generally we simply say, those who win are tasked to realize the dreams of their people. Kadtong mga wala makadaog, better luck next time. Consider it as way of realizing that for one instance after another, this is not your time to serve,” Palma said in interview before his Mass at the EIC Pavilion yesterday.
(From our point of view, or the way we see it, and without questioning certain realities, we generally would simply say, those who win are tasked to realize the dreams of their people. To those who lost, better luck next time. )

But the prelate, at the same time, stressed that Rama was “entitled to his own assessment” and has the right to ask for a recount “if he feels that (the election) was not fair or whatever reasons he may think the votes were not really counted.”

“But just the same, in general, we simply say, we congratulate those who were declared winners, and we say, for those who have not in one way or another, won, perhaps this is an occasion for us to realize that this is not our role at the moment,” he added.

In his post-election message published on the Archdiocesan publication “Ang Lungsoranon,” Palma also commended the schoolteachers that served as Board of Election Inspectors (BEIs) during last Monday’s election.

He also thanked police and military personnel, and the Commission on Elections (Comelec) for having extended selfless service in order to provide the country a generally peaceful elections.

Rama, faced with the prospect of having to prematurely step down from office for the remaining duration of his term as mayor of the city, was however more concerned with how to find ways to reverse his defeat in the just concluded mayoral race.

Rama yesterday said he would rely on Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, a lawyer, and City Legal Officer Jerone Castillo on how they could counter the suspension order imposed against them by Malacañang over the case filed by lawyer Reymelio Delute involving the grant of P20,000 calamity aid to city hall officials and employees in 2013.

The Office of the President ordered the six-month suspension of Rama, Labella and 12 councilors last April 8 for a period not exceeding their terms of office, or up to June 30, 2016. But the order could not be enforced in the absence of a clearance from Comelec, which is the authority over suspensions or transfer of government employees and officials during the election period.

Last Friday, the Comelec gave its nod for the Department of Interior and

Local Government (DILG) to implement the suspension order, some DILG officials confirmed on Saturday.

But Rama said he has more urgent matters to attend to other than addressing his suspension order.

“I cannot be answering (the order). They haven’t even been able to supply us with an official copy before, and now we’re talking about another. I have left the matter to Edgar Labella and Jerone Castillo and the people. How the people will react about this discussion about their ultimate desire to really cut me off,” Rama told Cebu Daily News in a phone interview.

Rama said he would rather focus his time and effort in fighting the results of the May elections where he lost to the city’s former mayor, Tomas Osmeña, by 34,000 votes.

When word of the suspension first came out last month, Rama ordered the beefing up of security at City Hall saying they could not prevent their “emotional supporters” from expressing their dismay over the order. Two of City Hall’s side entrances were closed and only reopened after the

Comelec decided it would not entertain applications to enforce suspension orders until after the May 9 elections.

Interior Undersecretary Austere Panadero confirmed in a text message to CDN on Saturday that their application for exemption has been granted by the Comelec.

The suspension order would be implemented the moment the DILG receives a copy of the Comelec clearance, added DILG Secretary Mel Senen Sarmiento.

Asked if he would implement another set of security measures this time, Rama said he would also leave it to Labella since the latter “won (as vice mayor).”

Labella said he will look into the possibility of implementing another set of security measures “considering that emotions (among their supporters) are high.”

As to their legal remedy, Labella said they would go back the Court of Appeals (CA), where they have a pending petition questioning Malacañang’s jurisdiction to hear the calamity aid case.

“We will be going back to Manila for a follow-up manifestation, praying that the (CA) issue(s) either an injunctive relief or the outright dismissal of the case or both,” Labella told CDN.

Councilor Gerardo Carillo, a Team Rama ally also facing suspension, said they have 30 days from receipt of the order to look for legal remedies before it becomes final and executory.

“We haven’t received an official copy yet. Upon receipt, we are given a month to file a motion for reconsideration. So we will wait. It cannot be implemented yet. We won’t heed (the order), because we still have remedies,” he said referring to Administrative Order 23 which outlines the rules and regulations for administrative cases against elective officials.

Among the Team Rama councilors facing suspension, Councilors Dave Tumulak and Hanz Abella were reelected but Noel Wenceslao lost. But other affected councilors allied with Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) said they would heed the suspension order once it arrived, particularly since an ally, Councilor Margot Osmeña, would be expected to assume as the city’s acting mayor, being the number one councilor elected in 2013.

“It won’t also affect the operations at City Hall because if Mike will be suspended, Margot will assume as acting city mayor. The problem maybe is with the city council. So the DILG has to look for a remedy to that,” said Councilor Sisinio Andales of BO-PK, who won in his reelection bid.

Andales said he would not mind getting suspended as it would give him time to go on a vacation with his family and not worry about his city council duties until he assumes his post under a fresh three-year term starting in July. He said other BO-PK councilors named in the suspension order – Eugenio Gabuya Jr., Mary Ann de los Santos, Nestor Archival, Alvin Arcilla, Alvin Dizon, Roberto Cabarrubias and Nida Cabrera – met about it and also had no objections to the Malacañang order.

Aside from Andales, also reelected among the suspended BO-PK councilors were De los Santos, Arcilla and Gubuya. Archival lost his bid for vice mayor while Dizon and Cabrera lost their reelection bids. Cabarrubias is serving his last term.

Two BO-PK councilors – Osmeña and Lea Japson, two from Team Rama – James Anthony Cuenco and Richard Osmeña, and Philip Zafra, who sits in the council as president of the city’s Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) were not included in the suspension order as they were not present when the grant of calamity aid was approved by the city council.

Osmeña again reiterated yesterday that she would not overly think about the prospect of being acting mayor for a month until it happens.

Lawyer Reymelio Delute, the complainant in the case, said he would be happy if the suspension could only be implemented for one month as it would bring “peace and order” in the city and would stop Rama from influencing his supporters into holding rallies at the City Hall grounds to protest the victory of mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña.