MIKE IS BACK

Labella to present ‘accomplishment report’

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama will return to City Hall today, amid a flurry of activities planned to mark the end of his 60-day preventive suspension.

As the Malacañang-imposed suspension ends at 10:30 a.m. today, Rama declared he felt as if he was not suspended at all.

According to Rama, he did not make a big deal out of his suspension because he never believed he deserved to be suspended in the first place.

“I never went into hiding . . . because there is a saying (that) the wicked will flee but the innocent is as bold as the lion,” Rama said.

A thanksgiving Mass is scheduled at 7 a.m. today at the Plaza Sugbo grounds fronting the City Hall to celebrate Rama’s return. City Hall also put together a “family day” celebration for its employees since today is also the Chinese New Year, a non-working special holiday.

Rama could not attend the Mass though as he had other activities lined up before he heads to the City Hall at 10 a.m., said the mayor’s appointment secretary, Juvelyn Montecillo.

Since today is a holiday, Rama would officially take over the mayor’s seat tomorrow, according to Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who was acting mayor during Rama’s suspension.

In his two months out of City Hall, Rama remained publicly visible particularly during the Christmas holiday, such as attending the Misa de Gallo held at Carbon Market, a project which he started years back. In January, Rama was again busy with the Sinulog Festival since he was still the chairman of the Sinulog Foundation Inc. (SFI) and was also actively involved in the city’s preparation for the hosting of the 51st International Eucharistic Congress (IEC).

“Mura ba og from being suspended but not suspended. Why? Because I kept on roaming around. I kept on serving. I kept myself busy. That’s precisely (why) I don’t even think that the 8th (of February) was near because I kept myself busy with IEC. I was very busy with Sinulog,” he told reporters yesterday.

Last December 10, officials of the Department of Interior and Local Government in Central Visayas (DILG 7) enforced the suspension order against Rama based on a Malacañang ruling, finding merit in the complaint filed by Labangon Barangay Captain Victor Buendia on the alleged unlawful removal of the barangay-funded center island project.

Rama, through his lawyer-son Mikel, petitioned the Court of Appeals for a temporary restraining order but it was not granted. The case remained pending before the DILG but hearing officer Isidro Barrios III said the proceedings were temporarily halted because of the ban on administrative investigations within the election period.

Labella said he would be presenting to Rama today his “accomplishment report.”

“I’m going to make a report to the mayor on the things that I’ve done in his absence. I’m going to make a written report, submit it to the mayor after the Mass that we’re going to hold when he assumes,” Labella said.

Labella said he never considered Rama suspended but was just on “vacation,” noting that Rama continued to do many of his functions as mayor, including taking active part in the Sinulog and IEC hosting activities.

As acting mayor, Labella, among others, issued a couple of executive orders, such as institutionalizing the city government’s “sustainable poverty reduction and economic alleviation and development program for better life” or the “Spread for Better Life” office and an order that allows the city legal office to assist and act as counsels for the city’s senior citizens.

Labella also vetoed an ordinance authored by opposition Councilor Alvin Dizon of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) that provided for a one-year moratorium on demolitions within the city. The ordinance was reintroduced to the city council after Rama vetoed the same measure last year.

“We are looking forward that there will be no more suspension (against Rama) and there’s no more reason to suspend the mayor,” Labella said.

But Barrios said Rama, who is running for reelection, would still face the investigation even if he would win another term as the mayor could no longer invoke the Aguinaldo doctrine since this has been debunked by the Supreme Court. Under the now junked Aguinaldo doctrine, an elected official facing or found guilty of an administrative case will be cleared of all liabilities following a reelection, on the ground that a misconduct committed by an elective official during his/her previous term is condoned by the public once the official is reelected into office.