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Thursday, April 15, 2004
Council finally OKs hiring of consultant
By RENE H. MARTEL
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
OPPOSITION Cebu City Councilor Carmelita Piramide finally got the approval to hire Jessie Aznar as her consultant.
The City Council yesterday passed the resolution on Aznar’s consultancy service after almost four months of delay.
The delay was mainly caused by the need to re-file the resolution and questions on small matters such as the inadvertent reference to Aznar as a “she.”
Mayor Tomas Osmeña had earlier vetoed the resolution, saying Aznar will only serve as campaign manager of Piramide, who is seeking reelection under the Kugi Uswag Sugbo. Osmeña said he did not want City Hall to pay for Aznar’s services.
It is now up to Vice Mayor Michael Rama to sign the contract for Aznar to be Piramide’s consultant for legislative matters.
Rama, in an interview after yesterday’s council session, said he will not disapprove something that the council approved.
Asked about his alleged nitpicking on Aznar’s “gender” in the contract, Rama said the approval was not delayed but simply went through the “proper channels.”
Fingers crossed
Piramide, in a separate interview, said she is simply keeping her fingers crossed.
“I still do not know how they manipulate things. I know how their minds work,” she said.
She questioned why other resolutions that require minor changes no longer underwent the process that happened to the resolution on Aznar.
Piramide first presented her resolution authorizing Rama to sign the contract for the renewal of Aznar’s services as her consultant last Jan. 7.
Six days later, Mayor Osmeña sent the council his veto message stating that approving Aznar as consultant was “contrary to public welfare.”
Last Jan. 28, Piramide made a 15-minute speech questioning the veto, and moved that the council overrule the veto by a two-thirds vote.
The council instead requested Osmeña to furnish members a written explanation, which the mayor did not give, saying he already did through the media.
Osmeña said Piramide is simply asking Aznar to be retained as a consultant for candidacy purposes, something Piramide denied.
It was later learned that it is not actually Osmeña but Rama who approves contracts of services of consultants, so another resolution, this time authored by Councilor Dana Ruiz-Sesante, was presented.
The City Attorney’s Office, however, said the contract was flawed because Aznar was referred to as a “she,” so Rama did not sign it.
Sesante re-filed the resolution, which the council finally approved yesterday.
(April 15, 2004 issue)
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