CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña declined the offer of Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III to chair the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB).
Last Tuesday, Davide, who chairs the MCDCB, offered the position to Osmeña just to make the Cebu City mayor stay active in Mega Cebu.
Although Osmeña said he is grateful and flattered that the governor wants him to be chairman of Mega Cebu, the mayor said he can work well for the city.
“I’m very flattered that Gov. Davide has suggested that. I used to do that before, and I brought in many projects to Cebu, including the second Mactan bridge. But its very time consuming,” he said.
He said it is better and he would like it if the governor would still be the chairman of MCDCB.
But Osmeña added that the way it was now, he had other priorities and would take care of the city’s own infrastructure.
“It was relatively easy for me because I did all the work. And the body will just say okay, okay. But this one, they are dictating, and I don’t have to be part of that,” he added.
Earlier, Osmeña said that for him, Mega Cebu does not exist. He even questioned the legal personality of the MCDCB to convene meetings.
The mayor, however, said he supports certain components of the Road-map Study for Sustainable Urban Development, a study initiated in 2013 by the MCDCB in collaboration with the Japan International Cooperation Agency.
Osmena also said he had no objections with the City Council authorizing Vice Mayor Edgar Labella to attend MCDCB meetings as long as the vice mayor would only represent the City Council.
“It only becomes different if you are carrying the name of the City of Cebu,” he said.