Friday, April 04, 2008 Rama roots for a united Cebu
THE 110th commemoration yesterday of the Tres de Abril uprising became Vice Mayor Michael Rama’s pulpit to call for a united Cebu and to drop hints about his intention to run for mayor in 2010.
He was introduced as the next Vice Mayors’ League of the Philippines (VLMP) president, a position he seeks to clinch in the April 17 to 19 league elections.
Part of Rama’s platform is to bring Cebu City’s best practices to the league for its members to learn from and implement in their local government units (LGUs).
“Sa (Cebu City) Charter nga gibuhat ni Don Vicente Rama, wala gyud giingon nga mahimo kitang syudad ug dili kita apil sa probinsya (The charter never stated that becoming a city stops us from being part of the province). Naa nalatid, Cebu City is part of Cebu Province. Therefore, tibuok Sugbo pagmata na, kinahanglan pa ba ta’g laing dugo? Sugbo, Sugbo, pag-usa na, kinahanglan pa ba nga mag-away ta? (Wake up, Cebu. We do not need further bloodshed in order to unite),” he told those gathered at the Tres de Abril marker.
Before making his appeal for unity, he joked about not mentioning the names of the guests and said that anybody who has designs for the 2010 elections could approach and hand him a paper so that his name could be mentioned repeatedly.
“Naa may floral offering, i-apil gyud na diha ang inyong ngalan, og gusto gyud mo’g balik-balikan ang inyong ngalan aron mahibaw-an nga naa mo (Make sure your name gets mentioned in the floral offering, so people will know you are here),” he said to ripples of laughter from the crowd.
He also punned about being so “busy” but will no longer be so in 2010 (no longer “bise”) because he will not be eligible by then to run for vice mayor.
Because he will no longer be “bise,” what will be left for him by then will be—at this point, those around Rama finished his sentence—“mayor.”
Although Mayor Tomas Osmeña already gave his word that Rama will succeed him as the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan’s candidate for mayor in 2010, there have also been talks the party may endorse the mayor’s wife, Margot.
During the short program that followed a mass early yesterday morning, San Nicolas Proper Barangay Councilor Cenon Bacus narrated in Cebuano the 1898 uprising, starting from Pantaleon “Leon Kilat” Villegas’ meeting with the Katipuneros at the barangay cemetery, where they tore to pieces their cedulas, to the Palm Sunday encounter in the area where the marker stands, a block away from the Tabo-an Public Market.
Present during the commemoration were officials of the Department of Education, Department of Interior and Local Government, Boy Scouts of the Philippines, the Cebu City Police Office and the City Government’s Department of Social Welfare and Services, Department of Agriculture and Department of Veterinary Medicine and Fisheries.
Representatives of the Knights of Columbus and the Knights of Rizal attended, along with a few barangay captains and San Nicolas Proper officials and residents led by Barangay Captain Edgar Lauron.
Aside from Rama, City Councilors Lea Ouano-Japson and Arsenio Pacaña also joined the celebration. (RHM)
