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Saturday, March 18, 2006
Vice mayor apologizes for his remark on land deal
By Linette C. Ramos & Jeanette P. Malinao
CEBU CITY -- Vice Mayor Michael Rama apologized to Capitol officials Friday, saying he did not intend to insult the Provincial Government and only wanted to emphasize the impact of a proposed land swap deal.
"I'm extending my apologies to the governor, all members of the Provincial Board and the vice governor," Rama said in a news conference.
"As far as I remember, I don't think my statement was intended to insult them. It can be guaranteed that I will not hold personal grudges against anyone," he said.
Rama remains open to holding a joint session between the City Council and the Provincial Board to discuss other options they can take to help some 5,000 families who stand to benefit from the swap.
While Capitol officials found the vice mayor's apology good to hear, this does not change anything: there's still nothing for them to talk about in a joint session, so holding one "will be useless."
Moreover, apologizing in a press conference may not be enough to appease provincial leaders.
Location
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said, "I would hope that if you are reckless enough to impugn the name of the Province, you should also know how to properly repair the damage that your reckless, crude acts or statements have done."
Vice Governor Gregorio Sanchez Jr. also thinks it better for Rama to apologize in another privilege speech at the City Council.
"For fairness and to show sincerity, he must do it there because what's the point in lambasting the Province in a privilege speech, then apologizing outside?" Sanchez told Sun.Star Cebu.
Board Member Victor Maambong thinks that Rama should write all of them.
Garcia is now considering the eviction of the illegal occupants.
Rama revived Friday one of the options the council considered last year, which was to use a P100-million credit line to help occupants pay the Province for their lots, instead of turning over P400 million worth of properties to the Capitol.
Rama, however, was quick to add that this is not the council's stand on the matter, but this could be one of the options they can discuss in the joint session.
Priorities
"Do we really have to swap properties or can we just go back to the original intention, which is to make the beneficiaries pay for the lots they are occupying?" he suggested.
Besides, he added, the City might need the 3.3-hectare property being considered for the swap, in case it runs into cash flow problems in paying for the South Reclamation Property (SRP) loan.
In his news conference Friday, Mayor Tomas Osmeña, who also felt slighted by Rama's statement, welcomed the vice mayor's apology to the Capitol officials.
He said, though, that he would not let his feelings get in the way of the public discussion on the matter. He will leave it to the council to scrutinize the proposed land swap, for the sake of transparency.
"That's good (Rama's apology), nobody's perfect... Right now, my stand is simply this. The council said some very strong words that offended not only the mayor but the other parties as well, but never mind my being offended. It's my responsibility to show the city that there is nothing to hide here," Osmeña said.
Rift
If, in two weeks' time the council still won't be able to decide whether the City should enter into the exchange, the mayor said he might call the councilors to find out what their stand is.
Rama said he did not mean to offend the Capitol officials by implying that the City will only inherit the Capitol's problems if the land swap materializes.
"They are not my enemies, neither are they my opponents. I know all of them, we are all public officials... I'm apologizing because I'm a man of peace and goodwill, and not because I want them to reconsider their decision to drop the deal," he clarified.
Barring developments, Capitol lawmakers are still expected to tackle this Monday a resolution condemning Rama's "insults."
Board Members Jose Ma. Gastardo and Maambong said they are accepting the apology, but like Sanchez they are still not keen about the joint session.
"Feelings have been offended," said Maambong.
Still shaky
Gastardo disclosed that they are bent on urging Governor Garcia to put off the proposed land swap, unless the Cebu City Council "can preempt it with a decision on their part."
This conflict could have been avoided, the vice governor stressed, had Rama and the councilors gone to Osmeña's office and asked for clarifications, instead of issuing "unguarded public statements."
Sanchez also could not help but point out something that he says could have avoided the trouble: "It pays to have communication. Go slowly, study the matter closely before going to the public. Consult every member of the legislative body before injecting your own opinion in a privilege speech. And preliminary discussions with members would have helped, so as not to waste time debating about it in so many sessions and without coming up with something." (Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(March 18, 2006 issue)
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