PEOPLE talk about...
* HOW JONAS ADMINISTRATION WOULD ENFORCE MANDAUE CITY'S SOGIE ORDINANCE. The "show-cause" order sent to City Times Square Two on March 26, 2018 was sent by Regal Oliva, city treasurer, although then mayor Luigi Quisumbing's chief of staff Elaine Bathan "noted" it. Faced with a similar situation -- an establishment refusing the use of its comfort room for gays -- would Mayor Jonas Cortes be as diligent in the enforcement of the anti-LGBTQ+ discrimination ordinance? And could the city treasurer be as assertive now as she was under the Quisumbing administration?
* LAPU-LAPU STATUES NOT REFLECTING THE ACTUAL LOOK OF THE MAGELLAN KILLER. Must be because there were no reproductions of the Cebuano hero for the sculptors to use as basis of the modern work. One historical fact: the faces are not those of Lapu-Lapu when he killed Magellan. One account (by Danilo Madrid Gerona was that Lapu-Lapu was already "viejo" (old) at the Battle of Mactan. And no, accounts weren't specific that it was Lapu-Lapu who actually killed the foreigner.
[1] SOME COUNCILORS COMPLAINING ON LONG, WINDY TALK BY PRESIDING OFFICER. When Mike Rama became mayor in 2010, moving up from his job as Cebu City Council presiding officer, the talk among a few councilors was how City Council business was being transacted more quickly with the new presiding officer.
Now that Mike, as the new vice mayor, is back at the helm of the local legislature, some councilors are reportedly griping again about "too much prattle" from the chair.
Unfair to Mike, says a Rama fan, because the vice mayor has so much knowledge and experience to share, especially with the newbies of the City Council.
[2] A 'MIKE INFORMATION OFFICE' or M.I.O. for short in some barangays. "Mike" must be for Mike Rama, the vice mayor. What's wrong with that? If it does not operate as Tomas Osmeña's Barangay Mayor's Office or BMO did in barangays controlled by Barug during his 2016-2019 term, M.I.O.s may just be listening posts for the vice mayor.
* 'UNTOUCHED' AND 'UNTOUCHABLE" SRP FUND. The money, from the proceeds of some SRP lots to Ayala, SM and Filinvest, was not touched during the term of Tomas Osmeña in 2016. Thus, the word "untouched" was neutrally descriptive. Since it was not touched, was it "untouchable"? The two parties in the Cebu City Council disagree.
BOPK thinks that because of a court case and a standing Sanggunian policy, the funds cannot be spent yet and remain "untouchable."
Partido Barug, now the dominant party, disagrees, pushing the opposite view that since the money was earned and paid and the city has dropped the court case, the City Government is free to spend the money for projects and basic services. The City Council will soon decide that. The losing party may accept the new policy or go to court, which won't stop the spending unless it gets a TRO on time.
So the "untouched" and "untouchable" may cease to be so.
P.S. The two are neutral words in reporting; usage of the words doesn't mean the user favors one view over another.
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