DESPITE objections, the Cebu City Council approved the minutes of the Aug. 7 and 8 regular sessions last Tuesday, which would mean that all approvals made during those dates are valid.
It was during the continuation of the Aug. 8 session that two controversial resolutions - the granting of authority to Mayor Tomas Osmeña to sign an P18-billion deal to develop Kawit Island and the granting of special land use permit of the Binaliw landfill project - were approved.
But opposition councilors wanted the court to declare as void the two resolutions, saying these were irregular and patently unlawful. They objected to the motions made by majority floor leader Councilor Margarita Osmeña on the grounds that the presiding officer made a valid adjournment of the session.
In her first motion, Councilor Osmeña moved to approve the minutes of the Aug. 7 and 8 sessions and included the manifestation of Councilor Eugenio Gabuya Jr. that he made a motion to review the ruling of the parliamentary inquiry.
Gabuya said he made the motion even before Councilor Raymond Garcia moved for the adjournment of the session.
Garcia objected to the inclusion of Gabuya’s manifestation, saying it would appear that they were changing the minutes of the session.
Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera also objected to the first motion of Osmeña, saying Gabuya’s statement came after the banging of the gavel, which would mean that the session was already adjourned.
Garcia also suggested that the audio recording of the session be played to verify if there was already an adjournment when Gabuya made his motion.
Before the final minutes were presented to the Council, there were two other versions of the minutes. That is why the opposition wanted to listen to the audio recording. But Osmeña said the final minutes were based on the audio recording so there is no need to play it again.
In an interview, lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, counsel of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan councilors, said that playing the recording again during the session will only reward councilors who came to the session unprepared.
But Councilor Joel Garganera said that the audio recording will speak for itself, and that it also contains the accounts of the sanggunian secretary and stenographers.
Because of the objection, Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, who presides over the Council, proceeded with the voting.
Ten councilors voted in favor of the motion of Osmeña while seven voted against it. RVC