Two Rama advisors dropped from list of approved consultants

ONLY two out of 45 consultants for both the Mayor’s Office and the City Council were approved for renewal in yesterday’s Cebu City Council session.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said he personally opposed the renewal of contracts of lawyer Jade Ponce and Ester Concha as consultants on environment concerns and the Local School Board respectively.

He said the two “committed mortal sin” by bad-mouthing him and the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) bloc in the council.

Young said Ponce was critical due to their refusal to renew his contract from July to Dec. last year.

Young said Concha was also spreading lies that he tried to block the December 2012 distribution of the P10,000 assistance to public school teachers.

“They are traitors. They want us to approve them but they don’t respect us,” he said.

Ponce said in a separate interview that the council was only trying to “zero in” on him and Concha.

“Exactly what do they mean about bad mouthing? Did I say something rude? They have to be specific,” he said.

The list of 45 consultants presented by Councilors Lea Japson and Roberto Cabarrubias consisted of 22 consultants for the council and 23 consultants for the mayor’s office.

Consultants under the legislative department receive a uniform consultancy fee of P9,000 a month while the 23 consultants for the mayor’s office receive an honorarium ranging from P8,000 to P18,000 a month.

Of the mayor’s consultants, only former mayor Florentino Solon receives P1 a year honorarium as a nutrition programs consultant. A P5 million budget was approved this year for consultancy services.

Young said the money is enough to pay for the honoraria of the consultants of the mayor and the council.

The consultants were not paid since January since the council wanted to clarify their share on the P5 million budget.

Young said he met with Councilor Jose Daluz III who relayed Mayor Rama’s position to cancel the renewal of the contracts of Perla Centino and Felix Jose Lazarte.

The two were consultants for the council’s majority floor leader Augustus Pe Jr.

A third consultant whom Daluz asked not to be renewed is Guillermo Casinillo, Young’s office consultant on senior citizens concerns.

Young said he also told Daluz that he no longer wanted Ponce and Concha on the mayor’s list of consultants.

He said the BO-PK pays for the legal services offered by Centino.

Ponce said he has run afoul of the council because he speaks his mind.

He said he was prepared to render service to the city even without pay as long as Mayor Rama needs him.

Rama said he has more important matters to attend to than focusing on the council’s approval of contracts for consultants.

He also disregarded the council’s vote to override his veto on the distribution of senior citizens cash assistance.

The council voted to override the mayor’s veto of an ordinance that sets the distribution of seniors aid to every first Monday of the month. Rama wanted the distribution of cash aid done every quarter of the year.

“That’s their specialty now which is to oppose my plans,” the mayor said. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac and Correspondents Edison delos Angeles and Tweeny M. Malinao