A PAGE one photo in this paper on Thursday showed Cebu City Councilors Arsenio Pacana, Nestor Archival, Cristopher Alix, Jack Jakosalem and Gerry Carillo, all last-termers, wearing barongs and wide grins.

Acting Mayor Mike Rama, who was with them, was also smiling maybe because he gets to become mayor.

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But maybe the councilors were smiling, as the song goes, even though their hearts were aching.

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In “Moonlighting,” Cybell Shepard’s character tells Bruce Willis: “Wipe that stupid grin off your face.”

To which Bruce Willis responded: “This happens to be the smartest grin I own.”

No one can wipe the grin off the faces of the five councilors but we wonder whether they were just amused at the thought of leaving City Hall.

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Sto. Niño Barangay Captain Pancho Ramirez Sr. said several barangay captains have expressed their desire to run for a seat in the City Council, but
only five seats will be vacated by last-termers.

If the administration cannot accommodate them, they can always defect to the opposition and hope to win.

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Only 30 out of 80 barangay captains attended the inaugural session of the 11th Sangguaniang Panlungsod on Wednesday.

Acting Mayor Mike Rama said the absence of 50 barangay captains was not unusual.

Yes, it was as usual as barangay captains signing a manifesto asking Deputy Speaker Raul del Mar or First Lady Margot Osmeña to run for mayor.

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Mike Rama belittled reports some of their allies will defect to the opposition for lack of projects from the administration.

Barangay captains, he said, are “intelligent and will not be bought.”

That’s why they have to make sure they can match opposition leader Atan Guardo’s projects in the south district.

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Mike Rama has spoken strongly against the Public Attorney’s Office (PAO) for moving for the exhumation of 38 victims of the Princess of the Stars sinking, which the National Bureau of Investigation called “useless.”

Mike now barks, but will he bite?