Oops! It’s still Barug Team Rama...for now

CEBU, Philippines — Barug Team Rama or Barug PDP-Laban? To change or not to change?

Members of the Barug Team Rama, the opposition bloc at the Cebu City Council, will set out talks to decide with finality whether to change or retain the group’s name.

This after several group members who have jumped ship to the ruling Partido Demokratikong Pilipino-Laban ng Bayan (PDP-Laban) of President Duterte from the United Nationalist Alliance (UNA) of former vice president Jejomar Binay have proposed scrapping the name “Barug Team Rama” and replacing it with “Barug PDP-Laban.”

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella echoed former Cebu City mayor Michael Rama’s statement that all group members must be consulted first before any final move is made. 

“It is the most logical thing to do. Our group is consultative. No one dictates what to do and what not to do. It is deliberative and every decision is based on consensus,” Labella told The FREEMAN.

“I believe in the adage that no one can claim a monopoly of knowledge of everything,” the vice mayor added.

It was Councilor Raymond Alvin Garcia who announced Friday the changing of the group name via a text message to members of the media, the same day some members of Barug Team Rama, including Garcia himself, took their oath under PDP-Laban.

Asked if he felt slighted by Garcia’s pronouncement to the media, Rama answered to the negative, but he said he wanted to clarify the stand of the other group members.

“We are okay. There’s nothing to be alarmed and nothing to be concerned about,” Rama said.

To recall, Rama was not invited to take oath under PDP-Laban as the party barred those on Duterte’s “narco list” and those facing drug charges from taking part in the proceedings. For two instances, the president named Rama as an alleged drug protector.

Rama, nonetheless, maintained that talking to members of the group is the right thing to do. He could not provide an exact date, though, when asked about the schedule of the meeting.

“Soon,” he said.

Taking things in stride, the former mayor said he just felt that some members of the group are “excited” after taking their oath.

“We have to talk to avoid confusion. Our group is collective and consultative, and our group is not easily affected,” he added.

So how does the prospect of transferring to his original group, the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan, figure with Rama at this time?

“It’s far-fetched,” he said.

Barug Team Rama members who took oath under PDP-Laban included Labella and Councilors Garcia, Jocelyn Pesquera, Jose Daluz III, Joel Garganera, James Anthony Cuenco, Association of Barangay Councils President Phillip Zafra, and 300 other barangay officials.

Sought for comment on the proposed name change, Daluz said: “I agree. This should be decided by the group.”

Garcia, for his part, said that as a team player, he agrees with discussing the possibility of changing the group name with the members.

“I respect Barug’s leadership to decide on what’s good for the party,” he said.

Garganera, meanwhile, said Rama already told Team Rama members to do away with a group name that bears a family name.

He added that changing the name from Barug Team Rama to Barug PDP-Laban is “a natural order of things” as the latter is easily identifiable with the president.

“Besides, Barug is synonymous to Team Rama. If we compare it to marketing, it’s just rebranding. It’s keeping up with the new politics away from the traditional political parties based on family names,” Garganera said. (FREEMAN)