The majority in Cebu City Council in question

Today is another holiday, as Malacañang wants Filipinos to observe the Eid’l Adha, one of Islam’s important feasts next to the Eid’l Fitr. With the way Malacañang is adding holidays, I don’t think it is necessary for Congress to approve the bill that ushers a four-day workweek. Like it or not, the more holidays we have the more our productivity goes down and the Philippines would be less competitive in the world job market. Lest we have already forgotten, the Philippines has competitors within the markets just with our Association of Southeast Asian Nations neighbors, this is not to mention the rest of Asia and the world. So fewer holidays is better!

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Last Wednesday, the headlines in The FREEMAN blared “Sonny O suspended.” For refusing to release the quarterly real property tax shares of Barangay Daanglungsod in Toledo City, Mayor Sonny Osmeña faced a one-year suspension as ordered by Ombudsman Conchita Carpio-Morales purportedly for “grave abuse of authority.” To add to Sonny O’s woes, he also faces six counts of violating Republic Act. No.3019 or the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act before the Sandiganbayan.

Mayor Osmeña’s reply to the Ombudsman is he did not release the P17-million share for Barangay Daanglungsod because the boundary dispute between the barangay and Barangay Sangi has not been resolved. But the Ombudsman countered that this dispute has been resolved. Honestly, in my book, the Office of the Ombudsman has become too harsh in this particular ruling. I mean a one-year suspension is simply too much. First of all, Mayor Sonny Osmeña did not pocket the money or even profit from this.

On the other hand, Mayor Osmeña welcomed this suspension because as he said “he is tired.” Indeed, Mayor Osmeña served Cebu City way back in 1963 when he first ran and won as councilor. He eventually became senator and lately served as Mayor of Toledo City for the past four years. I have been at odds with Sonny O many times in the past, but that was a long time ago. We have since buried the hatchet so to speak. In fact, I recently met Sonny O having breakfast in Harold’s Hotel. He apparently frequents that place as it is near his condo. But one thing I can say about Sonny O, he is not corrupt and has served the country very well. Mayor Osmeña should fight this stupid suspension!

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Remember the problem that the Cebu City Council faced when the big question was asked who really is the majority; Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan or the group belonging to Team Rama? While this issue remains hanging, out of the blue, we heard that Councilor Nendell Hanz Abella will soon be resigning as Cebu City Councilor as he has accepted a post as Commissioner in the 7th Division of the National Labor Relations Commission, which falls under the Department of Labor and Employment-7.

Apparently it is not a secret that Councilor Abella’s first love is the NLRC. He once worked with the NLRC 5th Division in Cagayan de Oro. When asked whether he would keep his councilorial seat, Abella revealed that when he applied for the position last March he was asked to choose between being a councilor or the NLRC. Abella pointed out that he could serve more people in Region 7. But in truth, being a Cebu City Councilor means that every three years, you need to go on the campaign trail to get yourself elected, while the NLRC gives you a stable job.

Councilor Abella was the chairman for the three committees in the council; they are the Committee on Education, Committee on Budget and Finance, and the Committee on the Environment. Being a member of the BOPK, which is supposed to be the majority bloc in the council, Councilor Abella’s resignation will mean that the BOPK will now have eight councilors, which is equal to the number of councilors under Team Rama.

So technically the Cebu City Council is back to square one right after the 2016 presidential elections. At this point, we’d like to ask the Department of Interior and Local Government to clearly define which party is now considered the majority?

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