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CEBU CITY, Philippines – Criminal and administrative charges are being considered against acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and other city officials in relation to an order to recall the building permit issued to the Cebu Provincial Police Office (CPPO).
Representative Pablo John Garcia of Cebu's 3rd district said the order issued by Cebu City Mayor-on-leave Tomas Osmeña to recall the permit is a violation of Local Government Code section 24 that pertains to temporary vacancy of the local executive chief.
“I will personally file the criminal and administrative charges against Rama, (City Administrator Francisco) Fernandez and all other officials who think that humoring that patient in the United States (Osmeña) is worth more than their jobs, personal integrity and self-respect,” Garcia said in a message sent to Cebu Daily News (CDN).
Garcia, younger brother of Governor Gwendolyn Garcia and a former Capitol consultant, said he finds the situation “unusual” as Fernandez “values more a text message from the (mayor who is in the) United States than a signature of an acting mayor.
Acting Mayor Rama issued the building permit of the CPPO building worth P11 million located at the province-owned lot in Sitio (district) Sudlon, Barangay (village) Lahug, on October 31.
According to Engineer Josefa Ylanan, officer in-charge of the Office of the Building Official (OBO), the contractor asked for the structural plan of the building and submitted the documents to Rama, requesting him to sign the building permit.
Rama signed the permit after seeing no problems with the building structure and the contractor's compliance with all requirements.
He said he was unaware that Mayor Osmeña stalled the approval of the application of the permit because the CPPO building is located on the road right of way of the bridge project that connects barangays Lahug and Guadalupe.
As a result, Fernandez said he will meet with OBO officials, city engineers and the city legal council to investigate the issuance of the building permit.
But Garcia reiterated that in the absence of the city or municipal mayor for physical or legal reasons, the vice mayor or the highest ranking official in the Sangguniang Panlalawigan (City Council) shall exercise the powers and perform the duties and functions of the local executive chief concerned.
He said the permit of the CPPO was issued by an official who assumed full powers, duties and functions of the mayor.
“It can no longer be recalled, revoked or in any way modified by anyone else; certainly not by a patient in the United States. Acting Mayor Rama can, of course, pretend that he has no mind of his own, disclaim possession of any form of backbone, and substitute the patient’s judgment for his own,” Garcia said.
Following a return to the city early this month, Osmeña left anew for Houston, Texas where he is undergoing chemotherapy sessions to treat his urinary bladder cancer.
In issuing the permit, Rama said he recognizes the need to house the CPPO building in Cebu City since the city is geographically part of Cebu island.
But Rama said the question of whether or not the CPPO project is on the right location is another matter since the bridge connecting barangays Lahug and Guadalupe is partly finished.
The Guadalupe portion of the bridge has been completed. But it is impossible to use it since an apartment building is blocking the other side of the bridge.
Fernandez explained he did not know about the bridge project. The city administrator said he was not also aware the bridge’s exact location.
“All I know that there is a bridge that is not yet completed in Guadalupe but to where it is, I do not know. Tomorrow (today), we will know what actions to take and we will submit our recommendations to the acting mayor (Hilario Davide, III) and then inform the mayor who is on leave,” Fernandez told CDN.
Fernandez said that if Garcia thinks that investigating into the matter also constituted a criminal offense, “it's criminal.”
He, however, pointed out that he also respects the instruction of Osmeña.
Rama, who is in Dubai, said in a phone interview yesterday that the issuance of the occupancy permit of the CPPO building would still have to be discussed.
But Fernandez said the permit could not be put on hold since it is already issued.
“It cannot be held if it was already issued. But whether it can be revoked or not, I do not know. That is why we should first find out why the permit was issued, why it was put on hold and all other matters,” he said.
Garcia said in the event that Rama would follow Osmeña's decision, it would be a “tragedy worse than cancer.”
“(It would be) the death of his own freewill and integrity. It would be political disastrous to demonstrate to the people of City of Cebu that the man, who would be mayor, is a political doormat without any integrity and self-respect,” Garcia said.
Capitol officials viewed the issuance of the CPPO building permit as an indication that the city and the province could renegotiate the stalled P1.2 billion Ciudad project along Governor Cuenco Avenue in Cebu City.
The project has been put on hold since 2006 when the Cebu City Council issued a moratorium on all developments along Banilad corridor due to worsening traffic situation.
Better coordination between the city and the Capitol would be an opportunity for Cebu provincial government officials to pursue the issuance of the locational permit for their P1.2 billion Ciudad project along the Banilad corridor.
Osmeña said he would rather prioritize investors who were paying taxes to the Cebu City government than the province which was not paying taxes, being a local government unit.
Rama told CDN on Sunday that the council and the city government respect the mayor's stance on the issue.
“It is not easy to be the acting mayor of the city if there is still a mayor,” he said when sought for his personal opinion.
