Cebu City councilors (current, outgoing and suspended), with suspended Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and Acting Mayor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, pose after their last regular session. (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
The Cebu City Council gave tribute to outgoing councilors, including those suspended, in its last regular session yesterday.
In a privilege speech, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella acknowledged the 13th Sangguniang Panlungsod as one of the most prolific, if not the most, for having enacted the investment code, pieces of legislation covering the social needs of the people, as well as the environment code.
Vice Mayor Labella, along with Mayor Michael Rama, and Councilors Alvin Dizon, Noel Wenceslao, Dave Tumulak, Hanz Abella, Gerardo Carillo, Nestor Archival Sr., Mary Ann delos Santos, Sisinio Andales, Alvin Arcilla, Roberto Cabarrubias, Nida Cabrera, and Eugenio Gabuya Jr. were suspended for six months by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
The suspension order, which was served by the DILG Central Visayas last May 17, stemmed from the release of P20,000 calamity assistance to city hall officials and employees in 2013 after the 7.2 magnitude earthquake and Supertyphoon Yolanda hit Cebu.
Labella also thanked Acting Vice Mayor Lea Japson for taking over the council in his absence as well as Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, who authored a resolution allowing the suspended members to join the last session of the city council.
Labella, who will also preside the 14th Sangguniang Panlungsod for having been reelected, assured that the next council, which is dominated by Team Rama councilors, will not be an “obstructionist council” to incoming Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Councilor Noel Wenceslao, who lost his reelection bid last May, said in his privilege speech that now is the time to “heal and move on.” “Political powers should be set aside. Instead we should work hand in hand for a peaceful and progressive Cebu City,” Wenceslao said.
Wenceslao broke the serious tone of the session by ending his privilege speech through singing Frank Sinatra’s “My Way.”
Among those who also gave their privilege speeches were Councilors Alvin Dizon, Nida Cabrera and Gerardo Carillo, who lost their reelection bid along with Richard Osmeña and Roberto Cabarrubias. Another outgoing councilor, Nestor Archival Sr., was spared from delivering his privilege speech as he did not attend the session.
Their last privilege speeches highlighted their thoughts of gratitude to the Cebuanos for giving them opportunity to serve the general public.
Meanwhile, Acting Mayor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, who called her fellow members of the council as classmates, told the city council to uphold “love and respect” when conflict arises.
“We may not always agree but in disagreement, we learn. We learn and hopefully we enrich our experience as public servants. I just want to ask that we cooperate in as much as we can for the future of our Cebu. It may be hard for others, but we have no choice,” she said.
In her brief stint as acting vice mayor of Cebu City, Lea Japson felt fulfilled and thanked her constituents from the Cebu north district for the support and trust throughout the duration of her term.
Japson, who is in her last term as councilor, also emphasized in her privilege speech her realization on the integral role of the city council in shaping the city and the society at large. /UP Cebu Intern Patrick Byron G. Gattoc
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