Mayor to host victory party, check on unfinished business

MAYOR Michael Rama returned to Cebu City for some business and a victory party for allies scheduled this afternoon.

Rama told reporters that he returned from a four-day Manila trip to see if the clearing operation in sitio Bato, barangay Ermita is already completed.

He also ordered the immediate removal of the fence which the Cebu Ports Authority (CPA) installed at the Compania Maritima grounds.

Rama will also host dinner at his home at the Rama compound in Basak San Nicolas for Team Rama allies and supporters.

He will then leave on June 6 to continue his 22-day vacation.

Mayor Rama left for Hong Kong on May 19 and returned to Cebu on May 26 to attend the wake of his ally, the late Mabini barangay captain Rey Oybenes.

Rama also lifted the orders issued by acting mayor Joy Augustus Young that suspended the clearing operation in sitio Bato and the demolition of a community stage in Apas.

He designated City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete as acting mayor before leaving for Manila on May 27.

Rama returned to Cebu last Thursday and visited sitio Bato to check on the clearing operations. He also ordered Poblete to tear down the CPA fence.

“I want the fence removed and returned to them. Don’t destroy it. Just return it to them,” Rama told Poblete.

Rama said there is no more need for him to discuss the removal of the Compania Maritima fence with the CPA board since they didn’t secure a permit for its construction.

The Team Rama victory party celebration starts with a 3 p.m. Mass.

Other Team Rama candidates who won in the election are Vice Mayor elect Edgar Labella and incoming Councilors Mary Ann delos Santos, Dave Tumulak, James Cuenco and Hans Abella.

Rama said he’s unsure if his cousin, talent manager Annabelle Rama and her children will attend their victory party because they are not back in Manila.

Rama said their victory party will be held a day before the annual feast of the Our Lady of Perpetual Help, the patron saint of the chapel at the Rama Compound. Chief of Reporters Doris C. Bongcac

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