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Tuesday, June 07, 2005
CH workers rile at Tomas vendetta v. Talisaynons
Majority of the Talisay City Council members opted to keep calm but City Hall employees were more vocal on Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s threat to drive Talisay into bankruptcy in two years.
“He hasn’t learned his lesson. He fell ill when he drove out vendors at the Basilica del Sto. Niño. What if he has the whole city of Talisay going against him,” an outspoken employee told reporters in Cebuano yesterday.
Others said Osmeña should face the territorial jurisdiction issue on the South Reclamation Project fairly and squarely, instead of questioning the cityhood of Talisay.
“His heart is ruled by vengeance. Morag nawala na siya sa iyang kauga-lingon (he’s no longer himself),” a City Hall department staff member said.
Other employees opted to pray in the hopes that Osmeña would change his vengeful attitude against his neighbors.
Talisay City Mayor Socrates Fernandez, for his part, remained calm despite this latest verbal threat from his Cebu City counterpart.
He hopes this new challenge will unite his constituents and push them to work harder for the fledging city’s benefit.
“We already grow economically as a city. We are also being recognized as a city by the Republic of the Philippines and the mayor’s league,” he said.
Osmeña wants Talisay City to refund other cities as much as P800 million in the Internal Revenue Allotment (IRA) it got over the years after it became a city.
This, if the court will decide in favor of the Cebu City Government when it “seriously questions the cityhood of Talisay that has caused serious damage to other cities.”
Osmeña said this is what he meant when he said he wanted Talisay City to bleed for electing the wrong leaders.
Population figures
He also wants to ask the court about “what the law means when it said 150,000,” referring to the population requirement for a municipality applying for cityhood.
He accused Gullas of manipulating the figures on the population of the then municipality of Talisay by declaring 150,000, even if the actual count was only 148,000.
Fernandez said Talisay City passed the population requirement, which the National Statistics Office affirmed.
Talisay City Councilor Rodolfo Cabigas and other councilors said the question is already moot.
They shared the views of Vice Mayor Aberdovey Belleza that the matter should be addressed to the court, as the cityhood of Talisay is already law.
But if the court decides in Cebu City’s favor and Talisay is asked to return the IRA it got over the years, it may have to return as much as P800 million (at P161 million per year).
“I don’t know how much but let the lawyers thresh it out. All of these will be disallowed. I’m sure the National Government will save them one way or another, but I want to make it an issue in the meantime. We lose our share for every year Talisay remains a city,” Osmeña said.
The only thing that will make him reconsider his threat is if his sister, Ma. Victoria “Minnie” Osmeña, and friend, Councilor Gabriel Leyson, become key officials of the first district.
Leyson is rumored to be eyeing the mayoralty post in Talisay City, while Minnie is reportedly considering running against Rep. Eduardo Gullas (1st district).
“No, I will not go on if he (Leyson) becomes mayor, once Gullas is out. It’s only the leaders,” Osmeña said.
Gullas authored Republic Act 8979, creating Talisay as a chartered city on Dec. 30, 2000. It became a component city in 2001, with Gullas as its first mayor. (GAC/GC)
(June 7, 2005 issue)
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