Rama to city hall employees: Work with me or leave

CEBU, Philippines — Employees of the Cebu City government who do not approve of Mayor Michael Rama’s leadership can leave City Hall.

This was the mayor’s bold statement during the flag ceremony on Monday, June 20, 2022, barely two weeks before his new term starts in July.

He said he would want his term to “start right.”

“Og wala mo makauyon sa akong style, you are free to get out of City Hall,” Rama told the city workers.

He said he will be “very, very, very serious” in taking on the “God-given assignment.”

Rama defeated former councilor Margarita Osmeña, outgoing Councilor David Tumulak, Chris Saavedra, Edgar Concha, and Juanito Luna in the May 2022 elections.

He was serving as vice mayor since 2019 but had to assume the mayorship in 2021 when former Mayor Edgardo Labella passed away in the fourth quarter of the year.

As he takes on a fresh term, Rama promised changes, and said he wants only those who take their work seriously to stay at City Hall.

“Daghan ang kausaban. Daghan. And seryoso ang kausaban… wa ko magkinahanglan sa tanan, wala. Kinahanglan lang ko og kugihan,” Rama said.

Rama tasked Human Resource Development Officer Remie Mondigo to give him an inventory of city employees for him to see if they are, indeed, working.

“I want to know, where are the employees? Usik-usik ta’g kwarta sa gobyerno unya dili manrabaho,” Rama said.

He advised regular employees, including department heads, to resign if they feel they do not want to work with him anymore or if they believe they can no longer meet the demands of their job.

“Ug kamo’ng dili seryoso, kung regular mo nga employee, tender your resignation. Give it to my office kon dili mo pwede magseryoso,” Rama said.

“Lain pa, department heads, if you feel very much pressured and you think you cannot be with us in this journey, tender your resignation. I will approve it right away,” he added.

Rama also warned that not all employees will see their contracts renewed.

“Gamay nalang ang adlaw, pasayloa lang ko kung naay dili ma-hire. Pasabot, contract not renewed. Pasabot, dili ma-renew, ‘di way trabaho… Bahala’g kita nalay mabilin… Wala gani appointment, ayaw mo’g report. We will not pay you a single centavo of your being around,” Rama said.

Singapore

Rama said he wants the right people to be in City Hall because he wants Cebu City to follow in the footsteps of Singapore.

“I am very serious for Cebu (City) to be like Singapore,” Rama said during the soft opening of the Cebu Quincentennial Hotel.

He reiterated his Singapore vision during a seminar for career pathing and orientation attended by guidance counselors. He said one way to be like the island nation-state is to provide residents with the best education.

“We have to manage Cebu like Singapore…excellence… culture… character… education,” he said.

Cebu City had been nominated before for the prestigious Lee Kuan Yew World City Prize. This is a biennial international award that honors outstanding achievements and contributions to the creation of liveable, vibrant, and sustainable urban communities around the world. Lee Kuan Yew is the father of Singapore.

“The Prize is awarded to cities and recognises their key leaders and organisations for displaying foresight, good governance and innovation in tackling the many urban challenges faced, to bring about social, economic and environmental benefits in a holistic way to their communities,” according to the award’s website.

Cebu City was also nominated for the award in 2016 but the prize went to the City of Medellin in Colombia.

During Rama’s previous term as mayor, the city received the seal of good housekeeping in 2011; was named No. 2 among highly-urbanized infrastructure and No. 3 overall for competitiveness, both in 2015; and received other awards like the Regional Best PESO and Local Legislative award, among others.

“Even sa Singapore, it’s a green city…No.2, you can see people are very disciplined... so we have to bring many facets of solid waste management, being a smart city... highly-commendable city,” he said. – Caecent No-ot Magsumbol , JMO (FREEMAN)