State of the City made possible by a vigilant public, says mayor

How the public made accomplishments possible was one of the themes Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña used in his State of the City Address yesterday.

One of them was Mitch Roldan, whose suggestion on social media led to the mayor’s decision to open the City’s public library for 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

Osmeña also commended former Cebu City Police Office Director Joel Doria for the confiscation of some P414 million worth of illegal drugs since 2016.

Not everyone in the City Council, where the mayor delivered his annual speech, was impressed. Councilor Joel Garganera said that the mayor shouldn’t take credit for Senior Supt. Doria’s accomplishments, considering how the City has failed to provide the police with more vehicles. He also asked for an update on the stalled land exchange deal between the City and Cebu Province.

In his State of the City Address yesterday, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña highlighted the public’s contributions.

Osmeña, who spoke before the City Council, said publicizing his personal contact number was worth it.

The mayor said this move paved the way for his major accomplishments in the last 12 months, including the proposed construction of a skate park in the South Road Properties.

On the aspect of drugs, Osmeña said the Cebu City Police Office under the leadership of then city director Senior Supt. Joel Doria confiscated around P414 million worth of illegal drugs from 2016 up to June 30.

Doria led around 4,400 anti-illegal drug operations that arrested at least 6,000 individuals, the mayor reported.

“Because of Colonel Doria, Cebu City is now the best performing drug enforcement unit in the whole Philippines. Many of this was because of the text mes- sages we received. This achievement is only possible with the help of those of you who sent text messages. Please keep them coming,” Osmeña said.

Osmeña also said that he has not been remiss in taking care of the welfare of motorcycle-for-hire drivers and his plan to establish a call center city in the SRP.

Osmeña said the call center city will provide its workers a chance to get a higher education degree while working at the same time.

After encouraging the public to contact him directly, the mayor said that requests allowed him to open the public library to 24 hours, seven times a week.

In the aspect of health, Osmeña said around 52,000 indigent residents benefited from the Cebu City Long Life Program, which provides free maintenance medicines at their doorstep.

He said the City still has to implement phases 2 and 3 of the program that will provide some laboratory services at home.

The City Hospitalization Assistance and Medicines Program also spent P77 million from July to December 2017, and catered to around 8,000 patients.

Ambulances were made available even to mountain barangays under the City’s Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office.

Garbage collection has also improved, Osmeña said, and the City has gotten fewer complaints from the public.

The City has also established hotlines for complaints and requests of garbage pickup.

The mayor, though, made no mention of some of the projects he promised like the long-stalled 93-1 deal with the Provincial Government, said Councilor Joel Garganera, a member of the opposition, who added that Osmeña’s accomplishments against illegal drugs were all lies.

He said that the City didn’t even provide Doria with a vehicle during his two-year stint here in the city. /