Pesquera to replace slot vacated by Hontiveros in Cebu City Council

Councilor Dave Tumulak (standing) confers with Councilors Jocelyn Pesquera and Raymond Garcia during one of the council sessions in 2017. | CDN file photo

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Former Cebu City Councilor and Lawyer Jocelyn “Joy” Pesquera is set to replace the slot vacated by Councilor and now Vice Mayor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros.

In a press conference on Saturday, November 20, 2021, the newly installed Mayor Michael Rama announced that Pesquera, a Barug-PDP Laban ally, who was vying for Councilor in the south district, would be the replacement for the vacated slot.

Rama said they chose Pesquera, who was also a former Cebu City Tourism Commissioner, considering that she was an ally and a veteran in public service.

As of now, they are still awaiting for the documentation for his appointment before she can assume the post.

Both Rama and Hontiveros took their oaths on Saturday morning, November 20, a day after the death of the late Mayor Edgardo Labella.

READ: Rama: ‘Succession follows when death comes’

Pesquera, for her part, said she was happy for being chosen to take over the seat of Hontiveros in the city council, stressing that she could serve again as councilor.

Despite the excitement, Pesquera said she also felt sad about it since she would be in the office due to the passing of Labella.

READ: BREAKING: Cebu City Mayor Labella passes away

“I’m happy because I’ll be able to serve again as a city councilor, and I’ll be able to also send all the plans, ordinances that I already have and at the same time I just also feels sad that it has to be this manner nga (that) because si (of) Mayor Labella wala na (who is gone) as a mayor,” said Pesquera.

“It is in a way talking about him, I will always feel sad. He was really very conscientious. He was our pillar especially when we also became colleagues in the city council. He made sure that everything that be passed a resolution and ordinances…can really stand in the test of times, and as a mayor, he, especially when I was also the one handling the Cebu City Tourism Commission, he was very supportive. And he allowed us to really develop and promote tourism in the city that was really (a) benefit (to) the people,” she added.

As a former chairperson of the Tourism Commission, Pesquera said she would institutionalize tourism programs that they had previously developed for the past three years.

“My immediate plans really are first to institutionalize our tourism programs that we have developed for the past three years and also push for the codification that we already started way back like even 10 years ago. That it could really be included and institutionalized in the city council kay (because) although we have already completed the codification way back 10 years ago, we need to update it because for the past 10 years, there were also a number of revisions and amendments to the current ordinances in the duty. So we have to revisit it, and hopefully, we can institutionalize it in a form also of an ordinance,” she said.

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