Rama warns he will ‘reveal all’ on 93-1 issue

CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama said he has apologized to Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia about his “dawat-limpyo” speech for political reasons.

He admitted yesterday he did not want trouble with Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) when they were still political allies. Rama was vice mayor while Osmeña was mayor at that time.

In 2006, Rama delivered a privilege speech that asked whether the Cebu City Government will not be placed at a disadvantage with the land swap deal with the Cebu Provincial Government.

The swap was for a four-hectare property at the North Reclamation Area owned by the City and the provincial lots covered under Provincial Ordinance 93-1 in 11 barangays in Cebu City.

When Rama posed the question, it miffed Capitol and the deal was put to rest.

Protested

Rama then said he was never against the deal.

But yesterday, almost six years after he delivered the privilege speech, Rama said he has always been against the deal.

“There was already stubborness on the part of the executive and there were discussions without me as vice mayor... I protested because Block 27 is already limpyo (clean),” Rama told reporters yesterday.

“Dili siya magpatakag sulti (He should not make wrong statements),” said Rama when told that Osmeña revived the issue during the regular 888 forum yesterday.

The mayor said he would reveal everything now that he and Osmeña no longer belong to the same group.

“We were in danger of facing a case before the Ombudsman... I am a lawyer, he is not,” Rama said.

Value

He explained that the total value of Block 27 in 2006 was P500 million. Now, it is reportedly valued at P1 billion.

The value of the 93-1 lots that were supposed to be swapped by Capitol was only about P187 million. The disadvantageous deal would have have merited an anti-graft complaint, the mayor said.

About 5,000 reportedly families would have benefited from it.

Rama belied the figure, saying 5,000 is not the real number because there are those that have already fully paid.

Immediately after drawing the ire of Garcia, Rama said he personally apologized to her. He was accompanied by the late vice governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. and Hilario Davide III.