THIS piece should have been in the Buzzzz section. But since I don’t have any access to the unnamed writer of that column, I will just write it here. Did you hear what they are talking about inside Cebu City Hall? If you don’t know yet, here’s what I have gathered through our “insider.”
A former city councilor is contemplating of filing charges before the Ombudsman against the brother of the mayor who is also the mayor’s confidential secretary. The reason, the ex-councilor, an ally of the administration, felt insulted by the actuation of the mayor’s brother during a gathering of some prospective investors at the mayor’s conference room. Some of those investors were invited by the former councilor.
As the mayor’s brother was about to start the briefing, he boldly and frankly told the former councilor to “get out from the room because he was not part of the group.” Embarrassed and without any resistance, the councilor just “politely” followed the order and went out of the room. Observers say they could only sympathize with the councilor. It was very insulting and degrading on the councilor’s part. He happens to be a lawyer. It was not known if the mayor’s brother recognized the face of the ex-dad as the former was working abroad and was not familiar with the mayor’s allies. The councilor has been out from City Hall for a long time after losing in the congressional election last 2016. This incident only happened last week.
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A former barangay captain who is now connected with one of the City Hall‘s departments is facing a sexual harassment case filed by one of the female employees in the same office. The female employee claimed that she was sexually harassed by the former barangay captain by attempting to kiss her after a drinking spree. The ex-village chief denied the allegation.
When talk of the alleged incident spread, the former barangay captain confronted the girl, who confessed that she just made up stories because she was forced by her department head to file a complaint. She said her contract would not be renewed if she didn’t file. It was learned that the department head and the former barangay captain are at odds. The former wanted the latter out from the office. But the former barangay captain has a recording in his cellular phone of the girl’s admission that she was just forced by her boss.
Another former barangay captain who is now a barangay councilor, who ran but lost in the last elections for the city council, came into the picture. He has the affidavit of the girl and threatened to expose it in the media. This former barangay captain has an ax to grind against his former colleague because the former lost in his barangay last elections. Hastang gubota.
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The conflict between a lady councilor and the wife of a key City Hall official has worsened with the intervention of the “influential husband.” The husband, one of the trusted men of the mayor, has put his “weight” into the conflict. Of course, he sided with his wife who has been telling everybody that she is the “alter ego” of the mayor in one of the commissions. The official who used to be a close friend of the lady councilor is distancing himself from the latter. It is just unfortunate that the mayor failed to patch up this “ladies’ quarrel.”
An informant told me that the same lady councilor and one of her haters, a defeated city councilor, were seen shaking hands at the Cebu City Sports Center grandstand during an event. Although, the informant could not tell if the two had reconciled and settled their differences. The informant was not also certain if the former councilor had apologized to the lady councilor.
Their conflict escalated after the elections. The former councilor alleged that this lady councilor was one of the reasons he lost in the elections because she engaged in vote buying, junking and single voting to the detriment of her partymates. They were in the same party. He lambasted her on his Facebook account and paid radio program. He called her by many names.
But as the saying goes, “time heals all wounds.” So now they’ve reconciled. Was it for real or just an act of civility because they happened to meet in an occasion with so many people around? Nagkabalikan na ba sila?