AFTER he recently flew to Vladivostok, Russia, then to Australia, Mayor Michael Rama was back Monday, September 25, 2023, at his favorite pulpit or soapbox, whatever you call it, namely, the flag-raising ceremony at Cebu City Hall.
What's new: his swipe at social media and Facebook or, more precisely, at people who attack him in social media and FB, which tops seven takeaways from his hail-the-returning-chief speech.
[1] WHAT GOT MAYOR'S GOAT. When the mayor vents his annoyance, if not anger, at criticisms against him personally and his administration, people usually scramble to know what has set it off.
The most recent and interesting fuse was that segment of broadcaster Jason Monteclar's The Not-So-Late-Night Show, which accused the mayor of making a lot of foreign travels (the United States, Canada, Russia and Australia), weeks or just days apart, taking along his wife and child, allegedly at city government expense.
There must have been other potshots in social media though Monteclar's was direct and blunt and came from a credible news platform.
[2] POKED FUN AT CRITICS. How did Mayor Mike respond? He recalled Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia's tangle with face masks during the Covid-19 crisis, how the face mask was required whatever one did in public and the result when it was no longer required, which was, he said, the time some people found out they had no face.
One doesn't immediately tie that comment on face masks to his slamming people who resort to social media but his kidding about socmed users was clear enough: "Ma-sosyal tood mo pero di kompleto. Kay medya man." As the mayor frequently asks his audience now and then, "Nakakuha mo?"
(3) PITCH FOR CCNI. Mayor Mike suggested that his audience, all City Hall officials and employees, not look up to Facebook, pointing to himself, "Akong pirmeng tan-awon ang Cebu City News & Information," the City Hall-run news outlet, which covers his activities "round-the-clock."
An adviser or friend has yet to remind him that CCNI material and all other stuff from the City Hall P.I.O. are filtered and screened in his favor. For city officials and employees to limit their understanding of events and issues to their own propaganda is to confine themselves in the City Hall-media bubble. And yes, CCNI stuff and PR material from City Hall are run in social media, which includes Facebook.
(4) 'MANTRA' ON NOT STEALING. In Monday's flag-raising ceremony, the mayor made a variation of his public promise last August 14, which by repetition and intensity at each occasion may now be deemed his mantra or, his favorite word, passion.
For context, he said this again after also repeating his promise about CCMC and the medical arts building, with buildings for a number of departments. The promised buildings will go up provided -- and here's the condition -- "Di lang gyud ta mangawat..." "Dili ta mangawat." "Dili ta mangawat."
Even louder and with more intensity, but this time the "ko" ("Dili gyud ko mangawat") was replaced by "ta." From "I" to "we": from first person singular to first person plural. While the scope of the promise is expanded as to number of people who make the promise, the expansion may also underwhelm or obscure the individual promise.
(5) COMMITMENT ON UNDERSIZING. City Hall watchers note that Mayor Mike reminded Monday his key officials about the "commitment" to reduce the number of City Hall workforce from 9,000 to 3,000.
Last August 17, at the same venue, he said that of the city's 1,300 regular workers, 3,300 casuals and 4,300 job-orders, only 3,000 would remain. He repeated the goal without changing the number of those who'd be spared (3,000) or the deadline (one year before the end of their current term, in 2025).
Mayor Mike's mention of drones being used to keep track of attendance and location at the flag ceremonies and his advice against patronage of social media critics of City Hall might sound like a threat to employees who must be less secure than ever about their job.
(6) FIRE DEPARTMENT, LTO. If they've forgotten it, Mayor Mike's reminder dragged it back. In that area adjacent to CCMC, where other buildings will sprout, two agencies will lose their long-held spot: the fire department and the LTO or Land Transportation Office.
(7) WORKING EVEN IF HE'S NOT HERE. The mayor obliquely answered critics of his foreign travels with these: he has been working hard for a hospital that will give "zero billing" to the poor and put up housing for the homeless through medium-rise buildings. He has been working "para sa mga kabos, alang sa mga kabos, tungod sa mga kabos."
Rama didn't directly answer Monteclar's reference to the mayor's wife and child tugging along on those foreign trips. But Mayor Mike may have explained his wife's presence with his declaration that Malou is "anghel sa akong kinabuhi (angel of my life)." To fly, the mayor must have sorely needed an angel.