Friday, October 17, 2008 Seal stays, acting mayor insists
SINCE no law is being violated, Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama will not have the City’s seal removed from the floor of the Legislative Building.
Rama said he does not believe that placing the seal on the floor for aesthetic purposes diminishes its importance as a symbol of authority, as pointed out by a former city councilor.
He pointed out that even the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Criminal Investigation Agency of the United States have their seals on the floor of their buildings.
“Is there a law that says a seal can’t be stepped on? If we remove it, will it increase efficiency of public service? It’s there to make us feel we are part of the City Government. If it’s there, it does not make me less of a public servant,” Rama told reporters yesterday.
Rama, who spearheaded the renovation of the City Hall Legislative Building, said the idea of placing the seal on the floor came from the architects from the University of San Carlos (USC), who made the building design.
He said he did not object to it because he did not see anything wrong with that.
But during the public hearing on the proposed ordinance prescribing the City Government seal last Wednesday, former city councilor Manuel Legaspi said the seal should not be displayed for people to step on “because it diminishes its importance as symbol of authority.”
“It’s really just a matter of perception. I think the seal welcomes visitors and make them feel they are part of this city. But if there is a law that prohibits it, then we will take it out,” said Rama.
Rama, a lawyer, said there is no law or ordinance that disallows any government entity from placing the seal on the floor.
In a phone interview yesterday, City Councilor Edgardo Labella said that he also does not see anything wrong with the seal placed near the doorstep of the Legislative Building.
He said, though, that he will just abide by the consensus of the City Council committees, whether or not the seal will be removed.
Labella also said that he doesn’t think the cross on top of the Magellan’s Cross, as it appears on the proposed seal, should be removed.
In the same public hearing, concerns that the cross would symbolize that the City has adopted Catholicism as the City’s official religion was raised.
“The mere fact that the cross is placed there does not necessarily mean that the City has already established a state religion. If you remove the cross, it will no longer be symbolic of the Magellan’s Cross structure,” Labella added. (LCR)
