On Mayor Rama’s veto

On the road to my small garden in the mountain barangay of Paril, last Thursday morning, I saw dogs fighting. Loud barking and noisy growling dominated the scene. A much bigger dog was being attacked by a growing pack of smaller canines with the latter appearing to have won the encounter. I was intrigued by the sight. There should be factor unknown to humans why a bigger animal seemed intimidated by the smaller ones that it had to run away. Every now and then though the bigger dog would turn around posturing a kind of readiness to fight its pursuers. But after briefly showing its large fangs and a few growls, it would continue running away with its tail between its legs.

In the Wednesday afternoon before my Thursday farm visit, I found myself seated in the gallery of the Cebu City council. It was a session day. As soon as the Honorable Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Garcia banged the gavel, business followed rather quickly. The session was uneventful.

A noticeable buzz set in when the council took up the veto memo of his honor Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama of the city’s Revised Real Property Tax Code. In a meeting with the press, a day or two before the session, the mayor sounded combative like the bigger dog in my tale above. He growled at the fact that such ordinance would only undermine his Singapore-like plan for the city. Actually, Rama’s bellyaching surprised me because I thought that the revenue measure was crafted to raise the kind of funding the mayor had in his plan to make our city level up.

To override the veto or not was the big question. It was an issue worth a dog fight of the ferocity I later witnessed which resolution would tell us which proverbial dog had its tail between its legs. Indeed, I anticipated the councilors to be prepared for a heated debate. But, I did not hear much from the minority. Probably, they viewed the situation with some glee because the ordinance was an administration-sponsored measure and yet, quite ironically, the head of the administration party vetoed it? On the other hand, someone belonging to the majority told me that they would just note the veto. Meaning, they would not override the mayor’s action.

Had the council decided to override the mayor’s veto, they would have done a Solomonic act. First, it will be a hallmark to their independence. In so doing, the councilors in the majority will have shown that the Revised Real Property Tax Code they passed was not spoon-fed by the mayor. It was a careful product of intelligent legislation, which they had to defend with all their brilliance and honor. That it is an ordinance they are proud to have enacted for the benefit of the body politic.

Second. Overriding the veto, more importantly, would have saved the mayor from possible public wrath. Why? The Revised Real Property Tax Code, its veto overridden, stands valid and effective. The mayor will have to implement it. True, it imposes a higher rate of tax and yes people will suffer with this high imposition. But, here is the catch. With this tax revenue in place, the mayor’s hands will be tied. It will be inconceivable and politically dangerous for him to introduce another tax measure higher than the one he vetoed. In the end, he might get from the ordinance less than the ?50-billion package he wanted, but we, his constituents, will be so spared from a debilitating tax burden that we might rather just endure.