Council won’t give Rama copy of SRP ordinance

THE Cebu City Council  did not release to the mayor the document where his signature appears in the last page of the South Road Properties ordinance which he mistakenly signed.

It only authorized  yesterday the release of a certified true copy of the  SRP  ordinance that prohibits the city mayor from selling lots without council approval.

Mayor Michael Rama  was not satisfied.

“I requested for an original copy.  I don’t need a certified true copy,” he said.

Cynthia Kahulugan, the City Council secretary,  said she would only release what the council authorized.

She said she does not release original copies of approved resolutions and ordinances in line with  record keeping policies.

Belinda Navasquez, Rama’s secretary, earlier wrote her seeking a copy of the document to have the signature verified witht he National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) amid doubts  that it was the mayor’s authentic signature.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said seeking the  NBI’s help was “moot and academic” and a “waste of time” because the city council had already overriden the mayor’s August 7 veto of the  ordinance.

Rama said he was  investigating possible forgery  of his signature .

The SRP ordinance approved by the City Council last July 18 was returned to the City Council with his signature on the last page on Aug. 1,  despite his announced plan to veto it.

Earlier reports raised  the possibility that a fied staff member had  “inserted” the SRP ordinance among the voluminous documents that requires the mayor’s  signature.  Whether it was a deliberate act or an oversight has not bee determined.

Rama said he could not recall having signed the SRP ordinance.

The ordinance would prohibit Rama from selling or  negotiating the sale of lots in the 300-hectare reclamation area in   without City Council approval.

He said that even his chief of staff, Philip Zafra, could not recall having received the  document from the City Council secretariat or endorsing it to the mayor for his signature.

As normal procedure, all resolutions and ordinances from the Secretariat are endorsed to Zafra for review before they are sent for signing by the mayor.