City councilors boycott session
Cebu City councilors allied with Barug Team Rama did not attend yesterday’s regular session of the council to protest moves to remove Association of Barangay Councils (ABC) President Phillip Zafra from the Council.
In a letter dated September 28, the councilors manifested their intention to skip yesterday’s session as an act of protest against the “blatant” disrespect councilors allied with Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) are showing Zafra.
“As matters may have simmered down with the withdrawal of the motion of Member (Sesinio) Andales, his honor, Honorable Tomas Osmeña, brashly admitted that such attempted ouster was part of the nefarious design of his party. Further, his honor, in attempting to clothe his statement with the sacred mantle of the law, encouraged the City Legal Officer to issue a statement concurring with his observation,” the letter reads.
“This shows the flamboyant parade of bad faith and malice that the mayor and his party has against the very institution that people of this City reposed their trust with,” it reads further.
Last week, Osmeña said BOPK will take legal action to prove that Zafra's term as an ex-officio member of the Council ended when the term of the previous Council expired.
“We will be taking proper action on that. The law is very clear, I almost memorize it. The Association of Barangay Councils term expires with the previous Sanggunian, so he (Zafra) is expired. He has no business sitting there and that's the law so we will take legal action on that,” Osmeña said.
Zafra's allies said, “Our protest is but a manifestation of our strong commitment to upholding the independence of this council and the principles of democratic participation, public accountability, checks and balances, and the rule of law,” their letter reads.
The letter was signed by all eight Barug Team Rama councilors, including Jose Daluz III, Raymond Alvin Garcia, James Anthony Cuenco, Jocelyn Pesquera, Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr., Eduardo Rama, Garganera, as well as Zafra.
“We are the only LGU in the entire archipelago who is doing that. We are just trying to make a stand and it is just a one session protest,” Garganera said.
WRONG VENUE
While the Barug Team Rama councilors said the boycott was not tantamount to abandoning their duties, Andales said not attending the session was not the appropriate way to protest.
“The City Council is not a proper forum for them to protest. There's another forum for that,” he said.
He also questioned Zafra's affiliation with BOPK.
“Ang ABC should not be a non-political entity. Ngano man mo-grupo siya sa pikas? Mo-side siya. He should remain an independent institution. As ABC, nonpolitical body man na, ang barangay captains wala man na sila'y party,” Andales said.
He said his privilege speech on September 26, which asked for Zafra to vacate his post, was based on the Local Government Code, which states that the term of ex-officio members expired in June 2016.
He, however, withdrew his manifestation after being convinced by Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and other councilors that Zafra's term of office has not yet ended because the barangay and Sangguniang Panlungsod elections were postponed.
The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) also issued a memorandum directing the Liga ng mga Barangay sa Pilipinas to hold elections for ex-officio members.
Andales said BOPK is yet to discuss Osmeña's earlier announcement that they will bring Zafra's issue to court.
Commenting on the absence of her colleagues, majority floor leader, councilor Margarita “Margot” Osmeña, said the opposition must not ignore their sworn duties as city officials.
“During the previous administration, I was personally insulted, I was called this and that, and I know naman that I am not that. I will not bring that in my duties as councilor. I think the best thing is if you want to prove yourself and you want to show that you are standing with your principle, you must do something positive. You don't run away from it and say I am not going to be there,” she said.
Even with eight councilors absent, the session pushed through.
“We proceeded, we have different views but in order to not delay the transaction, we will have the matter resolved,” Labella said.