CEBU City Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña wants to bring major reforms in the Cebu City Government, including initiatives such as the “Mayor of the Night,” removing spaghetti wires and fixing outdated property tax assessment.
In an interview on Monday, June 30, 2025, Osmeña said he will strive to transform the vice mayor’s office into an “Office of Reform” that will focus on solving problems faster and making city services more accessible, especially during nighttime.
One of his top priorities is to fix the city’s garbage problems.
Osmeña wants to set up a 24-hour garbage collection to make sure trash doesn’t pile up on the streets.
He said the plan involves working with private companies to help pick up garbage faster and more regularly, especially in busy or crowded areas.
Osmeña also plans to clean up the tangled and messy wires seen all over the city, which many call “spaghetti wires.” These are the overhead cables from power and internet providers.
He proposed the implementation of color-tag wires to easily identify the types of wires and which company owns them.
“All of us, we hate spaghetti wires. How are we going to go about this? We cannot go underground. It’s too expensive if you have to do the whole city,” said Osmeña.
The vice mayor said the City will work with utility companies like Visayan Electric, PLDT, Globe and Dito to make sure the cleanup won’t cause power or internet disruptions.
“You choose your color. Yellow, blue, so that you can see the installation. We know who to shoot. As simple as that. I will have to sit down with them and ask them to decide on the cables. Let them come up with their objections,” said Osmeña.
Tax rates
Osmeña also wants to review and update how property taxes are calculated. He said many property values are outdated, causing unfair payments.
The changes would mean checking the real value of land and buildings across the city to make sure tax rates are accurate and reasonable. He emphasized that the City Government should hold public consultations before making any changes.
To support his “Mayor of the Night” promise, Osmeña said he will coordinate with national agencies like the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Land Transportation Office (LTO), among others, to provide services to graveyard shift workers, particularly those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry.
“‘Mayor of the Night’ is a big reform. That’s a lot of work, believe me. And I don’t need any ordinance. I will just talk to the NBI, LTO, all of them. Of course, we have to lease an office. We don’t need a council resolution to lease an office. But that’s a lot of work,” said Osmeña.
On July 1, 2025, Osmeña and Mayor Nestor Archival launched the free bus rides for night-shift workers at the Cebu IT Park. / EHP