Ailing Cebu City mayor hospitalized anew

Edgardo Labella —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE CEBU CITY GOVERNMENT

CEBU CITY, Cebu, Philippines — The son of Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is appealing for prayers for his 71-year-old father who was again admitted to a hospital on Saturday due to pneumonia.

Jaypee Labella asked Cebuanos to pray for the fast recovery of the mayor who has been battling different ailments since January this year.

“Papa is in the hospital and my family pleads for your compassion and prayers at this difficult time,” he said in a post on Facebook on Monday.

Jaypee did not provide any other details about his father’s condition, saying their family would hold a press briefing on the matter on Tuesday.

In a media interview on Monday, acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said Edgardo was confined at the intensive care unit (ICU) of a private hospital here.

“We have to pray for him because he is now at the ICU,” said Rama, who belongs to the same political party as Edgardo.

No clue

But Rama himself did not know the real status of Edgardo’s health.

“The people should know about his (Edgardo) medical condition. The Cebuanos deserve that,” Rama said.

Under Section 46 of the Local Government Code of 1991, the vice mayor as acting mayor can perform all the duties and powers pertaining to the Office of the Mayor, except the power to appoint, suspend, or dismiss employees which can only be exercised if the period of temporary incapacity exceeds 30 working days.

Rama said he would meet with the department heads to discuss the matter so as not to impede the services of the city government.Edgardo first took a three-day medical leave in January 2021 after he got an ear infection. On May 31, he requested to take a three-day leave after he was hospitalized for “slight pneumonia.”

On June 9, he took a three-week medical leave to fully recover from sepsis, or blood infection. On July 14, he went on a three-day leave due to “persistent cough.” The leave was later extended until Aug. 18

The mayor’s sixth leave happened from Sept. 2 to Sept. 7. Edgardo was back to work on Sept. 8 but had to stay at home.

Edgardo took another official leave from Sept. 20 to Oct. 7 for health reasons. But the following day, Oct. 8, he filed an indefinite leave of absence to continue his recovery.

Jaypee earlier confirmed that his father suffered a mild stroke while being hospitalized in August.

According to Jaypee, his father’s speech and lower extremities were affected but said the mayor was in “good shape and in the process of recovering.”

—NESTLE SEMILLA