Tom will not name Mike acting mayor
By Rene U. Borromeo Updated March 19, 2009 12:00 AM
CEBU, Philippines - As if withdrawing political support from Michael Rama was not enough to publicly humiliate him, Mayor Tomas Osmeña yesterday announced he was not going to leave the reins of the city government in the hands of his estranged vice mayor when he leaves for the United States by the end of the month.
Osmeña is flying to Houston to undergo surgery for the removal of his cancerous urinary bladder but insists he will only be away for a few days so there is no need for him to relinquish power to Rama as caretaker of the city in his absence.
But the emphasis on the shortness of his absence does little to douse perceptions that the decision not to delegate power to Rama is another clear indication that the split between the two former close allies has become final and irrevocable.
Indeed, Osmeña said so himself that his trust and confidence in Rama has diminished that he found it no longer necessary for him to entrust the city in the vice mayor’s care.
Nevertheless, Osmeña also did not say if he will leave the reins of government with someone else.
Department of Interior and Local Government regional director Pedro Noval said it is the prerogative and the discretion of Osmeña if he does not wish to entrust the reins of government to anyone.
But in an interview on radio DYLA, Noval said Rama as vice mayor has assume the mayor’s office in an acting capacity automatically if and when the absence of Osmeña goes beyond three days, whether or not Osmeña likes it.
The 60-year-old mayor said he expects to be away for only about a week at most.
When Osmeña returned early this month from a series of chemotherapy sessions in the United States, one of the first things he did was to make known his disdain for his vice mayor, publicly accusing him of “sleeping with the enemy,” in reference to Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia, with whom Osmeña is locked in bitter quarrel.
Osmeña said Rama intentionally delayed signing the recommendation of the Joint Venture Selection Committee that disqualified Cebu province from participating in the bidding for a joint venture agreement covering 50 hectares of the South Road Properties.
But when reminded that Rama was quick to deny the motion for recommendation filed by Garcia, Osmeña said the vice mayor only did it after somebody told him the mayor was getting angry over the delays and that he was about to come home to personally solve the matter.
“He deliberately delayed it. He does not want to offend the governor,” Osmeña said.
Some people suspect Rama is trying to patch things up with Garcia in order to be able to renegotiate the aborted land-swap deal between the city and province, a deal that Rama himself mishandled and started the quarrel between Osmeña and Garcia.
But Osmeña would hear none of that, saying that if that was what Rama was trying to do, he would not agree to any renegotiation.
Osmeña and Garcia used to be chummy with each other, to the point that the land swap deal between the city and the province was on the verge of being finalized, that is until Rama stepped into the picture.
Rama, in a privilege speech, criticized the deal, angering Garcia who promptly pulled out of the deal. When the deal fell through, both Osmeña and Garcia settled into a tit-for-tat quarrel that went from road closures and withholding of development permits to name-calling.
Osmeña particularly resents the fact that while it was Rama who triggered his fight with Garcia, Rama now appears to be getting chummy with the governor.
Osmeña, who cannot run for a fourth term in 2010, has anointed Rama as his successor. That is all but water under the bridge in light of the falling out. A manifesto signed by more than half of the city’s 80 barangay captains expressing lack of confidence in Rama is widely believed to have been orchestrated by Osmeña himself.
So is the clamor to have Rep. Raul del Mar, also legally barred from a third term but who is pushing his daughter Cutie for the position, to run for mayor while he himself runs for vice mayor.
Rama, however, has not given up on Osmeña and is expected to meet him, in a private meeting with city councilors, at an undisclosed coffeeshop tomorrow night.
Osmeña himself has not totally shut the door on Rama, saying he will wait and see what comes out of their meeting. - /JST (THE FREEMAN)
daghan raba kaayo mga kapitan na kontra ni mike rama bisag no valid reason.
Of course. They don't have a valid reason because they never have any issue to go against the VM. It is their blind faith in the mayor that forces them to sign the manifesto nga sa akong pangagpas, ang Mayor ra sad ang nag luto ana. Mao man gud na giingon nga herd mentality ba. Ug asa tung usa adto sad sunod tanan without careful evaluation of the consequences.
DI nalang gyud mo deretso ug ingon si Tummy boy sa mga tawo nga Margot or none. I liko-liko pa dyud ug maayo nga moabut ra man siguro gihapon anang dapita. Sa ako nang gi-ingon, Del Mar? I don't think he will take the bait. Lisud mag mayor nga dunay morag Godfather nag control nimo. labi na ug imo ra sad nga bisi.
Huyang na si Rama...
Balimbing... Paling paling...
I think dli na cya maayo ma Mayor ky wlay pamarugan...
ayaw pang personal oi, ikaw kuno ma cancer..hehehe, bisag gi cancer na..hala pa ngwarta gihapon..!
welcome mayor tom
give mike the chance to prove himself ... dili na siya kalihok karon kay ang galamay ni tomas grabe kaayo diha sa city hall karon, kay acting ra man na siya ... pero ug ma mayor na gani na, mas molambo ang ciudad kay kabalo mo dialogue si mike ... mas maayo kung lain na sad nga mayor ug dili lang mag sige ug puli puli ang osmena o ang garcia ... wa na jud laing maayo ana nila nga mga pamilya? I hope rama will run and win in the next election ... the cebuanos deserve better than another osmena or garcia ...
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