Pres. Duterte in Cebu blasted Mayor Osmeña again

A week ago, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte was in Cebu for a National Security Cluster meeting. Then he was scheduled to go to the Mandani Bay Tent to meet with politicians, mostly PDP-Laban, One Cebu, the Gullas-led Alayon Party of the First District and other lesser political parties, and then he was supposed to go to Adnama Restaurant of Ding Borja his close friend. What happened was I went to Mandani Bay at 5 p.m. but since I had no political agenda, I left by 10 p.m. and missed the President who arrived by the midnight hour. No he didn’t endorse any local candidates to the consternation of many but they forgot that the campaign period hasn’t started. So I can understand that the President was playing safe.

Arriving in Mandani Bay, he spent half his speech attacking Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña. This was the second time he blasted the Cebu City Mayor for not cooperating with the police officers. The President first took a swipe at Mayor Osmena on Aug. 31 for reportedly saying that Pres. Duterte is a “drug protector” and for telling the national government to “leave Cebu alone.” The President  first blasted Mayor Osmeña during the fiesta of Mandaue.

Mayor Osmeña has been very vocal in his criticisms against the police headed by Police Regional Office-7 Director Chief Supt. Debold Sinas and Cebu City Police Office Director Senior Supt. Royina Garma whom he said could have been behind the killings in Cebu. The Cebu City mayor started to criticize the police publicly after the supposed assassination of his ally, Barangay Tejero councilman Jessielou Cadungog last July. Pres. Duterte arrived past midnight and delivered a speech for more than an hour.

Now Pres. Duterte added a new order, asking the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) to file charges supposedly for releasing into his custody three workers in a gas canister, which is supposedly illegal. It turned out that the company operating the gas canister was partners of his son. But as of press time, Mayor Osmeña has not given a full report on this issue to the Cebu media. Now what I can’t understand is why the DILG has not file charges against the Mayor to the point now that the  President himself has ordered them to file that case?

Incidentally before the President arrived at The Tent in Mandani Bay, Third District Rep. Gwendolyn Garcia declared unity among leaders of the seven legislative districts who delivered 1.4 million votes in the 2016 presidential elections. It was a huge gathering of nearly a thousand supporter for One Cebu Party. Rep. Gwen said, “We Cebuanos of one mind and one heart have come together again, together in support of President Rodrigo Roa Duterte.” She is running for governor against incumbent Vice Governor Agnes Magpale. She also introduced to the crowd her running mate, Daphne Salimbangon. It was my first time to meet with Daphne Salimbangon and I’ve always believed that it was better to chose her over her opponent Gov. Hilario “Jun Jun” Davide III because of his zero performance who now has to run for vice-governor because he would be easily beaten by Rep. Gwen.

Incidentally, our dear friend, Mother Lily Monteverde called me up that she would be in Cebu on Oct. 30. But when she arrived, she told me not to fetch her in the airport as her other friends apparently fetched her. I learned later that Annabel Rama took care of her. She told me that we would meet in the meeting with the President. Unfortunately, she wasn’t in Mandani Bay, but at the Adnama Restaurant. Since I left by 10 p.m., I didn’t meet up with the President nor with Mother Lily. But I’m sure that the President went to Adnama Restaurant after his speech in Mandani Bay. I also learned that he flew back to Davao City 5 a.m. so he must have stayed in Adnama Restaurant to talk with friends.

I called Mother Lily the next morning and apparently Annabelle Rama took good care of her staying in Radisson Blu. So that evening we had dinner with our friends at the Halloween Party of the Cebu Country Club (CCC), the only halloween party in Cebu City. Guess what? I ended up meeting Mother Lily there as they were invited by some members. With her was Chief Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo who also dressed himself in halloween costume. So at least Mother Lily went to Cebu and still met her old friend at the CCC, my home course! I also learned that Mayor Tomas Osmeña talked with Sec. Panelo in CCC. I don’t know what they talked about because the ballroom was quite noisy.

But allow me to speculate… that one of the things that were discussed was why the President was so mad at Mayor Osmeña. Speculations are high that the DILG would have him suspended…now whether they would do this before they file the charges against the Mayor or after they have filed the charges, we would soon find out.

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