That the dispute between the barangay officials and Acting Cebu City Mayor Margot Osmeña over the city-issued vehicles had to wind up at the Ombudsman-Visayas just shows the level of distrust and animosity between the former ruling Team Rama (or whatever it is they call themselves nowadays) and the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).
And we’re not even talking about reports that suspended Mayor Michael Rama’s vehicles were supposedly charged to the calamity funds or that the cars issued to the police have not been fully paid by the outgoing administration.
But we have to ask how quickly the acting mayor can dispense with the inventory if all of the vehicles were returned to the city government? As per latest report, only 16 vehicles have been returned for inventory to the city including the three or four vehicles issued to Barangay Tisa chairman and Councilor Philip Zafra.
The main complaint of barangay officials identified with the outgoing administration is that the acting mayor is taking her own sweet time with the inventory while their constituents whom they say benefit from the use of the vehicles have been made to suffer.
Aside from their complaint about the lack of mobility on their part, the recall of these vehicles may affect to some extent the services rendered to indigent residents of the barangays who are used to approaching the barangay chairman for immediate, one-stop service rather than to the ancillary offices that require processing and payment.
True, ambulances and police cars required for patrol are exempted from the inventory though it is good that the city police had the sense to offer to return the unpaid vehicles to the city. But it is unrealistic to expect the acting mayor to finish the inventory of all vehicles on or before June 30.
The fact that Councilor Osmeña serves as mayor in an acting capacity indicates that the inventory of the vehicles is a preemptive move on the part of her husband, incoming Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, to ensure that the cars and every city government resource won’t be used by the opposition without their say-so.
And exactly how long can Zafra and his allies hold on to the vehicles with little to no fuel subsidies? For that matter, why would they expect the incoming administration to provide them with fuel subsidy when they have yet to submit the vehicles for inventory?
Their refusal to return the vehicles, while understandable to a certain extent since they don’t expect to get them back when Osmeña fully assumes as mayor, is both unrealistic and self-defeating. And with the case already filed at the Ombudsman-Visayas, city residents are assured of witnessing this ugly spectacle continue on and maybe come to a head once Tomas assumes as mayor.