UNA bucks new Rama suspension

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama  LITO TECSON/CEBU DAILY NEWS

THE UNITED Nationalist Alliance (UNA) on Tuesday protested the second suspension order that Malacañang has issued against Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, an ally of UNA standard-bearer Jejomar Binay, saying it was illegal as the Commission on Elections (Comelec) prohibits such moves during the election campaign period.

Rama’s suspension was a “political squeeze to control city hall and Cebu City,” said UNA spokesperson Mon Ilagan.

“What Malacañang and the Liberal Party (LP) are doing against Mayor Rama and the entire city council of Cebu City is patently illegal, excessive, vicious and relentless. The administration seems to have an unusually high interest in Mayor Rama that they need to suspend him twice over, and this time for giving P20,000 for calamity assistance for employees of city hall,” Ilagan said. Rama was suspended for the first time in December 2015.

In a statement, Ilagan said the suspension order issued by Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa was illegal as the Palace has  been reminded by the Comelec that the suspension of local officials was barred during the Jan. 10 to June 8 campaign period. Christine O. Avendaño