Osmeña cuts ties with Talisay

CEBU — Mayor Tomas Osmeña terminated Cebu City’s fraternal ties with neighboring Talisay City the other day, apparently incensed by the continuing row over the ownership of a 53-hectare portion of the south reclamation project.

"There will be no more cooperation between Talisay and Cebu City. We are cutting our ties with Talisay City. There will be no more Big Brother program with them," an angry Osmeña told reporters.

The announcement came shortly after Osmeña shooed fish vendors from Talisay City away from Cebu City’s Pasil fish market.

The rift started when Rep. Eduardo Gullas, while still mayor of Talisay City, said one of his priorities for the fledgling city was to claim 50 hectares of the 240-hectare reclamation project of Cebu City.

Osmeña promptly reacted by calling Gullas a "land grabber."

Under their so-called Big Brother relationship, Cebu City extended various forms of assistance to Talisay City such as making donations of sodium lamps and traffic lights.

At one point, Osmeña clashed with his own partymates in the city council when he gave verbal concessions to Talisay City that allowed it to dump its garbage in Cebu City’s Inayawan dumpsite. His allies said the move needed the council’s approval.

Now Osmeña is saying that despite the good things he has done for Talisay City, what Cebu City got in return was "a stab in the back."

Asked to comment, Gullas refused to match Osmeña’s angry words.

Gullas said Talisay City was just advocating what the Talisaynons deserve and that he was just doing his job as "a leader of a local government who tries his best to protect his constituents and their rights."

"I have no ill will against Mayor Osmeña, only goodwill toward him. Trabaho lang (It’s just a job)," he said.

But if Cebu City cuts ties with Talisay City, Gullas said, Talisay City, in any manner, will stand on its own.

Actually, even before Gullas became mayor, the then municipality of Talisay was already opposed to the "encroachment" of the Cebu City’s south reclamation project into its territorial boundary.

Engineers from both cities even formed a joint team to determine coastal and inland boundaries and it was found out that the project, indeed, encroached on Talisay City, a fact that Gullas said was even acknowledged by engineers from Cebu City.

Gullas, however, said any future decisions Talisay City will make regarding its claim to a portion of the reclamation project will now have to be made by its present officials.

Gullas is the father of the Talisay City charter and served as its first city mayor. He has since gone back to Congress and the new mayor of Talisay is Socrates Fernandez. — Freeman News Service