Liberal intramurals
The present arrangement of the Cebu City Council in bypassing Councilor Edgar Labella when they refer proposed ordinances is expected after he, Jose Daluz and Ronald Cuenco joined Team Rama as the political opponent of the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK).
It’s best for the majority bloc and its leadership to reorganize the city council and committee chairmanships to avoid this situation and hurt feelings among friends in the council.
Vice Mayor Joy Young refused to reorganize the council. He and allied councilors didn’t want to have the three booted out and possibly projected as heroes or martyrs.
The BO-PK majority would have wanted the three defectors to resign from their council posts but they erfused so the majority bloc was left with no other recourse but to bypass the defectors in referring proposed ordinances.
It’s unfortunate but all of these occurences are basically because of politics and the approaching elections in May 2013.
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Another source of political confusion is deciding who the Liberal Party of President Noynoy Aquino would support for Cebu city mayor in the 2013 election.
Incumbent Mayor Mike Rama is an LP member as well as his rival Congressman Tommy Osmeña. LP secretary Jesse Robredo was in Cebu City recently. A meeting was called where Liberal Party members like Osmena, Raul and Cutie Del Mar and others were invited but not Rama. This led Rama to ask if he was been punished by the party where he’s a law-abiding member. He complained to the party leadership through Budget Secretary Butch Abad. But many were not surprised by the LP action in calling a meeting with Osmeñ who may have an ace up his sleeve in his elder brother Sen. Serge Osmeña who is a respected independent minded Liberal.
Mike Rama’s strongest argument against Osmeña is the principle of equity of the incumbent, which gives preference to incumbent officials in the party, and his role as a street parliamentarian during the darkest days of the Marcos regime. But politics is a strange animal whose mind no one can predict.
As the saying goes, there are no permanent enemies, only interests. One thing is sure, the loss of Rama or Osmeña from the Liberal Party is a gain for the party of Vice President Jejomar Binay. The decision is in the hands of LP.
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Now that prices of imported oil products have gone up so high public utility vehicle operators are seeking another round of fare increases. Many people oppose the fare hike as an increase they can’t afford because the salaries of employees have not been increased.
Some taxi drivers aren’t happy with a proposed P50 flagdown either because this would lead operators to increase the payment for boundary rentals of drivers.
The fare adjustment would just go to the operators instead of the taxi drivers. The Land Transportation Franchise and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) should consider this in weighing petitions for fare increases. It would be fair for LIFRB to consider that the public is also suffering the effects of oil price hikes. What is worse is that many don’t benefit from a salary increase. The opposition is very logical because while we increase the prices of basic commodities we have miserably failed to address basic needs of the people.
