[] Scrolling down: Mike Rama announces a survey on Barug choice for mayoral bet in 2019, does Edgar Labella even know about it and will he accept its results; the Peter-is-here-Peter-is-not-here guessing game; and the "only Osmeña in politics" whom Tomas likes
Kinks from the epic two-day session of the Cebu City Council session last August 7 and 8 (Tuesday and Wednesday) were examined by councilors in their session last Monday (August 13). But they were not threshed out. They could not approve the minutes, which incidentally totaled 200 pages (!).
Each camp has stuck to its stand that it is correct: Barug Team Rama says the session adjourned without passing the Kawit joint venture and the revival of the Inayawan landfill. BOPK insists the session adjourned and the BOPK councilors who continued it legally approved the two measures the same council had earlier rejected.
Presumably, the minutes contained all that happened from Tuesday (up to near midnight) until Wednesday night, including incidents up to adjournment and those after adjournment. (One wonders if it included the request for the acting secretary to have a C.R. break and was told to pee in his pants. If the 200-page record recorded everything, it should be there.)
So if Mayor Tomas Osmeña would sign contracts on Kawit and Inayawan without the approved minutes that certify to their approval, he would give a cause of action for Barug or any other aggrieved person to go to court and question their validity.
The minutes here, ordinarily an innocuous document that the City Council quickly approves, have become the basis for the legality and validity of the contracts the mayor would sign.
Barug 'already surveying'
The latest word from former Cebu City mayor Mike Rama on his and Vice Mayor Edgar Labella's promise to present only one Barug Team Rama candidate in 2019?
A Barug survey, Mike disclosed on radio last Monday (August 13), is now going on and would be finished by the end of this month.
Mike though didn't give dyCM anchor Erik S. Manait details of the survey: who's conducting it, who are the people surveyed, and, most importantly, whether Labella knew about it and had accepted its method and would accept its results.
The former mayor indicated the choices are not limited to him and VM Edgar although no other name has ever been mentioned as aspiring for city mayor from Barug.
The same fuzziness attended the disclosure as in the earlier joint announcement that Mike and Edgar made about having only one bet from the opposition. No talk about the survey then. This time, there was but no details are given on how it is being conducted and if it would be acceptable to Edgar and his supporters.
Peter 'is here, not here'
News stories and commentaries have dwelt on businessman Peter Lim's whereabouts: Where in world is he?
His lawyer is being blamed for giving "confusing" information: the he-is-here, he-is-not-here line. First, the lawyer said Peter was "very much around" and was definitely still in Cebu. After the arrest warrant was out, the lawyer said the last time he talked with his client was about a month ago. A classic example of how lawyers contribute to public distrust in lawyers.
But why would Mayor Tomas Osmeña talk about Peter's brother Wellington? He said Peter Lim is "here around" but Wellington, who wasn't included in the arrest warrant, is abroad using the "identity of a priest or something." And Tomas couldn't resist a swipe at Mike Rama when he said he tried to protect witness Bernie Liu, a witness against the Lims, and gave him a job but Liu was fired when he ceased being mayor, apparently referring to Rama who succeeded him. Liu was later killed in Talisay City.
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The other Osmeña he likes
Mayor Osmeña has started pushing for the return of his brother Serge to the Senate. His pitch: Sergio Osmeña III "has always been a voice of reason in the Senate." "He's also the only other Osmeña in politics who(m) I like."
A lash obviously at the other Osmeñas who went into politics, notably Toledo City Mayor John Henry "Sonny" Osmeña, Tomas's cousin, who also would hit Tomas whenever he had the chance.
Serge in the Pulse Asia June 15-24 survey, released last July, was ranked sixth to 13th among the "senatoriables." He was the lone Cebuano in the Senate.
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