Giving vent to anger

MAYOR Tomas Osmeña was out of power for three years between June 2013 and June 2016. During that period, many things happened in Cebu City that were not pleasing to him. His political allies deserted him, including most of the city’s barangay captains. They owed their election to him but had no second thoughts moving over to the camp of then mayor Michael Rama ostensibly because they wanted to make sure that their barangays will not be left behind in the distribution of the city’s largesse.

But the thing that must have rankled most to Osmeña was the sale of huge portions of the South Road Properties (SRP) to Filinvest and the SM-Ayala consortium by Rama. The Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK)-dominated council had until then effectively prevented Rama from even negotiating with investors concerning the SRP but Rama pulled a coup when no one was looking and got the required authority.

Osmeña’s objection was that the city government would be disadvantaged if the SRP were sold through public bidding. He preferred that interested investors submit an unsolicited proposal instead. His critics, however, claimed that he did not want Rama to touch the SRP, period.

The bidding went through and Filinvest and SM-Ayala acquired huge and choice chunks of the precious piece of land built out of the sea by Osmeña through funding from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The sale netted the city some P16 billion but Osmeña was not impressed. The city is awash with cash, Rama then crowed but a suit filed by a lawyer reportedly at Osmeña’s behest tied up the use of the sales proceeds.

I would be surprised if Osmeña had not made known to SM and company his wish that they did not participate in the bidding. Filinvest and SM are old SRP investors, dating back to when Osmeña was mayor and he is said to be personally close to their owners or controlling shareholders.

But they did not listen to him. After they won the bid, they paid 50 percent of the bid price in Manila with Rama personally in attendance. Worse, there was talk, although unverified, that an owner of one of the three companies was chummy with the mayor and rode with the latter in a helicopter to survey the SRP.

It is in this light that I look at Osmeña’s going after SM and Filinvest hammer and tongs. Last week, he filed a criminal complaint against the Henry Sy-owned conglomerate for allegedly not paying the correct real estate taxes for its SM Seaside City mall. He also claimed that the mall encroached on the required setback and threatened to close it unless the defect is corrected.

And then yesterday, this paper reported that Osmeña is running after Filinvest, too for the same offense. He said that his move will prove that he was not singling out SM but wags say he is in fact singling out SM and Filinvest, with whose owners Osmeña allegedly had a falling out. If there’s any doubt about how he dislikes SM, Osmeña compared the company to a drug lord because both allegedly care only for money.

It is Osmeña’s prerogative to choose his friends or, for that matter, enemies. If he wants to teach friends who left him when he most needed them a lesson or two in loyalty, we do not and should not care. His critics say Osmeña is vindictive. Again, that’s his choice.

But he should never sacrifice the welfare of the city in order to give vent to your anger. And when you put a reputable institution in the company of drug lords, you come dangerously close to compromising public interest. What kind of message is he delivering to potential investors?

Think about it, Mayor Tom. The city’s well-being is bigger than your private hurts.

It is Osmeña’s prerogative to choose his friends or, for that matter, enemies