Vehicles which Cebu City Hall promised to the city’s 80 barangays will only be issued to allies of Mayor Michael Rama.
They won’t automatically go to the barangay captain.
That much was made clear by Rama in recent meetings with barangay officials allied with the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK), including a meeting yesterday at the Grand Convention Center.
“Minalditohay na man kaha ni. Ingon ani-on ta na lang ni (This is about being clever. So let’s do the same),” Rama reportedly told officials of barangays Guba, Tejero, Talamban, Carreta and Sto. Nino.
Rep. Tomas Osmeña said barangay Bacayan officials allied with him confided to him on Monday about the mayor’s warning that he would not issue new city vehicles to non-allies.
Last week, the mayor turned over SUVs like Toyota Hilux and Mitsubishi Fuzion to two barangay captains and eight barangay councilors allied with him.
Mayor Rama yesterday confirmed having called a meeting on Monday and announcing that the SUV intended for barangay Bacayan would have the Memorandum Receipt issued to councilor Efren Lauron, an ally, and not the barangay captain.
“But the vehicle will still be for barangay Bacayan. If someone wants to use it, they have to talk to Councilor Lauron,” the mayor said in his noontime press conference.
In yesterday’s meeting with five other barangays, he told the group he felt insulted each time he learned that city vehicles issued to the barangay under his administartion were used to to the Guadalupe residence of Representative Osmeña, his nemesis.
“Dili ba na insulto nako?” (Isn’t that an insult to me?)
A barangay official who requested anonymity said he felt offended by what Rama told them in the meeting at the Cebu Grand Convention Center.
They received a call from a worker of the Barangay Affairs at City Hall requesting their presence in a lunch meeting with the mayor.
“We went because we were told that the meeting was about the city’s Annual Investment Plan,” he said.
Councilor Edgar Labella, the vice mayor candidate for Team Rama, and Mayor Rama addressed the group.
Labella said that while he won’t force barangay officials to support him in the election, he asked them to consider Mayor Rama’s performance during the last two years.
Labella also explained the mayor’s stand on their refusal to pay for the Rallos lot in Sambag 1.
Rama assured those present that he spent his personal funds for the luncheon meeting.
He talked about the passage of an ordinance which prohibits him to sell lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) and the display of Type O tarpaulins in some barangay halls.
Rama also recounted an encounter last week in barangay Guadalupe where he and Congressman attended a basketball tournament.
He said he wasn’t acknoledged or given a seat.
However, Osmena was repeatedly greeted and introduced by whoever was holding the microphone as the “next mayor” of Cebu City.
“How would you feel if it were you who were there?” Rama asked barangay officials.
Rama also criticized Councilor Augustus Pe Jr. and former councilor Gabriel Leyson who both plan to run for a council seat in the south district next year.
In a separate interview, Congressman Osmeña said barangay Bacayan officials allied with BO-PK also confided to him in a meeting last Monday about Rama’s warning that he won’t give them a luxury vehicle.
“And Rama says it’s not politics,” the congressman said.