THE Cebu City Council’s approval of its revised house rules for 2026 came under question after Minority Floor Leader Sisinio Andales said the minority was not given enough time to review the changes and that the rules reduced Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s authority.
In a privilege speech during the regular session on Tuesday, July 14, Andales said he received the 21-page proposal, signed by at least 12 councilors, only hours before the deliberations last July 7.
He said the document did not identify the provisions inserted, deleted or amended from the 2025 House Rules. Distributing it on the day of the deliberations deprived the minority bloc of enough time to study the changes and propose amendments, he added.
“When I received the amended house rules of 2026, there was no highlighting of the new provisions. As if the same house rules in 2025 will be adopted in 2026,” Andales said.
“There is a strong argument that the procedure of due process is compromised. The essence of due process is fair notice and meaningful opportunity to be heard,” he added.
Review period
Andales said the City Council Secretariat usually gives councilors two or three days to review proposed ordinances before deliberations. Revisions to the house rules should go through the same process, he said.
He urged the council to consider the revised rules article by article before approving them, guided by the “spirit of transparency and fairness.”
Agenda authority
Andales also questioned provisions that he said reduced the authority of the vice mayor as presiding officer.
Under the previous house rules, the vice mayor’s approval was required before proposed measures could be included in the council’s agenda, Andales said.
The revised rules allow proposed measures to be filed with the Sanggunian Secretariat with the authority and approval of the majority floor leader.
“The question is, is the majority floor leader higher in position than the vice mayor?” Andales asked.
He also opposed the removal of a provision allowing the presiding officer to author or co-author ordinances and participate in deliberations after temporarily relinquishing the chair. The provision should be retained, he said.
DILG opinions
Citing Department of the Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) Opinion 42, Series of 2019, Andales said a vice mayor may sponsor or co-author legislative measures and temporarily relinquish the chair to participate in deliberations. The presiding officer, however, may vote only to break a tie.
Section 49 of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code, identifies the city vice mayor as the presiding officer of the City Council and allows the presiding officer to vote only in case of a tie.
The dispute centers on whether the vice mayor may also sponsor measures and participate in deliberations.
The majority maintained that the revisions aligned the council’s rules with DILG Opinion 95, Series of 2025, which interprets the vice mayor’s role under the Local Government Code as that of an impartial presiding officer.
Further review
Through an omnibus motion, Andales asked the council to furnish DILG 7, the City Legal Office and the Office of the Mayor with copies of his privilege speech for guidance on the issues he raised.
The dispute began during the council’s reorganization session last July 7, when the revised house rules were adopted despite objections from the minority bloc.
The council also referred the revised rules to the committee on house rules and oversight for further review. In a separate motion, it asked the DILG to clarify the legal issues involving the vice mayor’s powers. / GERVIE PALUGA, UP CEBU INTERN
