Osmeña to seek legal advice on payment of consultants

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña has taunted the opposition councilors seeking to withhold the salaries of City Hall consultants not registered with the Philippine Government Electronic Procurement System (PhilGEPS).

Osmeña said opposition councilors were just envious that they do not have their own consultants.

“Suya lang sila. If I give them their consultants, do you think they’ll do that? Of course not. They are doing the right thing for wrong reason. Nangita lang sila og sala,” he said.

“Sakto gyud na but because they have their own political agenda,” he added.

Nevertheless, the mayor said he will ask the legal opinion of the City Legal Office on the matter.

The City Council requested the City Accountant’s Office to withhold the salaries of the consultants who are not accredited with PhilGEPS as required under 2016 Revised Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Republic Act No. 9184 or the Government Procurement Reform Act.

Osmeña said he gets the point of the Team Rama-allied councilors but he believes that they are doing it for political reasons.

He said he has to ask the City Legal Office if the accreditation is being applied all over the country, saying “it’s almost impossible to get PhilGEPS.”

“My job is, as long as these people (consultants) provide the service needed for the city, I have to push through with it,” he said.

He said he can justify the release of their salaries as long as the consultants earn it in providing services to the city.

Osmeña said he is not giving consultants to opposition-allied councilors because they do not perform executive functions compared to his allies in the City Council.

“Because they don’t perform any executive functions and they treat us the same way also. Weather weather lang na,” he added.

The mayor said he is not abusing his power to hire consultants unlike the previous administration. He said he only has 16 consultants compared to the 30 consultants of then mayor Michael Rama.

Osmeña said the city government will follow whatever is the recommendation of the City Legal Office.

“This is their way of sabotaging. Ngita og sala just to make life harder not for me but for the people of Cebu. So that people will blame me,” he added.

Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella said it is the right move to seek legal opinion from the City Legal Office.

Labella said the mayor should comply with the recommendation of the City Legal Office, saying there should be a “clear” ruling in hiring consultants for the city. (FREEMAN)