He had a ready audience, but at least two councilors weren’t ready to warm up to Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama’s call for support and cooperation.
Councilors under the majority Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bloc sat through a three-hour closed door luncheon meeting at Casino Español with Rama who delivered an overview of his programs for Cebu City.
One of them, budget committee chairperson Councilor Margot Osmeña, left before lunch.
“I hardly spoke. I promised that I will be there to listen so I did,” she said.
During the meeting, Osmeña asked Rama about Councilor Mary Ann delos Santos’ visit to Guba district hospital.
She said Councilor Leah Japson, a BO-PK ally who chairs the council’s health committee, also visited the hospital.
Rama explained that he appointed delos Santos, who was absent in yesterday’s meeting, to oversee the city’s district hospitals.
Delos Santos earlier complained about not being given a committee chair and said she wanted to handle the council’s health committee since she has relatives in the US who can help her.
Councilor Alvin Dizon said he had another appointment and added that he had “bad experiences” in the technical working group Rama created in 2010 on the 93-1 lots issue.
Dizon was part of the group that negotiated with former Cebu governor Gwendolyn Garcia over the province-owned lots in Cebu City.
Though Dizon chaired the housing committee, it was City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete who met Garcia during the negotiations. /Doris C. Bongcac, Chief of Reporters