PEOPLE talk about...
[1] CEBUANO PRIEST NAMED PAPAL CHAPLAIN. Pope Francis has appointed Msgr. Jan Thomas Limchua, 36, a Cebuano, as papal chaplain or a member of the papal household.
Limchua was ordained a priest for the Archdiocese of Cebu in 2010. He finished his theological studies at the faculty of theology in University of Navarre in Pamplona, Spain and his doctorate in canon law at the Pontifical Lateran University in Rome. A graduate of the diplomatic school at the Vatican, he entered the diplomatic service of the Holy See in 2014.
[2] AN INTRIGUING PHOTO that accompanied No. 7 in the Top 10 list of Offices and Agencies that You Never Knew Existed -- in Episode #4 of the "Not So Late Show of Jason Monteclar" -- shows a couple, both public officials. The title of the office: "Love is Blind Division Office of Cebu."
'... Akoy mangunay'
People still talk about the "rant" of Cebu City Vice Mayor Mike Rama, City Council presiding officer, during its last regular session (Wednesday, October 14) when he kept asking DPWH officials to tell who was responsible for the mess in the 2017 underpass-widening project, which is believed to have caused the resurgence of flooding in the Mambaling area.
VM Rama wanted to find out who was to blame so that, he said, he and the other councilors could sue.
Apparently, the flooding has deeply affected the legislators, at least three of them, including Mike Rama, being residents in the flood-struck neighborhoods and recipients of criticism from other people living there. After two years of inconvenience during the construction of the underpass, the problem of flooding has come with the heavy rains.
But omitted in the reporting of last week's session was Mike Rama's posturing that he would've done things differently if he were the mayor. These declarations stood out:
[1] "Mayor pa ko ron diha, ako'y mangunay..." (If I were the mayor now, I myself would see to it that it gets done...)
[2] "Mayor pa ko ron, mitingin tamong tanan..." (If I were the mayor now, I'd hold meetings with you all...)
He gave the impression that he could solve the problem quickly until the long-term solution would be put in place. He would re-route traffic, have the work done on one lane, etc. In sum, he would act "now, tomorrow, as soon as possible." He kept pressing DPWH Regional Director Edgar Tabacon to commit when the flooding would be stopped, saying there would be rains today, tomorrow, the next day. He scorned the talking and not acting, as if talking is not the main job of lawmakers and he himself didn't do much of it during the session.
VM Rama is not the mayor and he could not do the things a sitting mayor could do. Still he promised to be there ("mo-adto ko") when DPWH would work on the temporary measures.
Council session's 'hard stop'
Did you know that the Cebu City Council has adopted the policy of "hard stop," which plainly means "a time when you definitely have to stop doing something." In business, it is the non-negotiable end of a meeting. In the local legislature's case, they stop at a fixed hour, 5 o'clock in the afternoon.
It has its good reason: The councilors will be more judicious in the use of their time. Time for them and their resource persons won't be wasted. Their next appointment -- with family, lover or constituent -- will be kept.
But then (1) it cannot be inflexible for a problem that is urgent, such as the flooding in Mambaling and adjacent barangays and sitios. Because of the "hard stop" rule, the city had to wait for another week, until Wednesday, October 21, before the problem is taken up again. And (2) business cannot end without tying loose ends and summing up for the next meeting.
Without wrapping up last Wednesday's business with DPWH by a summary of the situation and what remained to be threshed out, VM Rama banged the gavel at 5 p.m. and left, with not an additional word, not even by-your-leave or "see you next session" to the visiting officials.
Atty. Charisse L. Piramide, City Council secretary, explained with two words, as the live streaming was abruptly cut off as well. She said "hard stop."
Left out from talk
VM Rama apparently did not follow his own practice of "mitingin tamong tanan" when the City Council tackled the flood problem. Having everyone who can help solve the flooding may give the lawmakers a better overview, which is crucial to its oversight role. That is, if the discussion is ably steered and not more than two people talk at the same time.
Information from, say, the city mayor's office, the offices of city administrator, city engineer, and public services chief would've been useful. The City Council needs to know too what is being done by the executive department so that Mike Rama wouldn't have to wish, "Kon mayor pa ko ron."
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