IF POLITICS in Cebu City is straight out of a Star Wars universe, outgoing Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia is former mayor Michael Rama’s padawan.
“I still consider him my mentor…a friend, at the very least,” Garcia said in a virtual press conference on Wednesday, June 11, 2025, adding that Rama is his godfather in his wedding.
The two politicians formed a coalition in the 2022 elections, with Rama running for mayor and Garcia vying for the vice mayor’s seat. They defeated their respective opponents.
Three years later, their alliance crumbled and they ran for mayor in the recent midterm polls. Both lost to Councilor Nestor Archival, a veteran politician from Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan.
“I don’t know about him, but I don’t have any ill feelings towards him,” Garcia said of Rama, who has filed an electoral protest challenging Archival’s victory.
Rama’s ally Vice Mayor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros is serving as the acting mayor until Garcia returns from a two-week vacation leave.
City Hall visit
On Wednesday, Rama visited the mayor’s office and Hontiveros. The former mayor was accompanied by his wife Malou and former city administrator Collin Rossel.
Rama, during his meeting with Hontiveros, mentioned that his term would actually end on June 30, 2025.
In May 2024, Garcia became the acting mayor after Rama was suspended by the Ombudsman for six months along with seven other city government officials due to administrative cases related to the alleged illegal reassignment and withholding of salaries of four city hall employees.
Before the suspension could be lifted, the Ombudsman dismissed Rama in October from service for nepotism and grave misconduct for appointing his wife’s brothers as casual employees at City Hall. Garcia took his oath as full-fledged mayor.
Rama’s second dismissal from service came in March 2025. This stemmed from a complaint filed in August 2023 by Jundel Bontuyan, alleging that Rama and members of the Bids and Awards Committee awarded three purchase orders for garbage collection and disposal to private firms without competitive bidding. Rama’s legal team has challenged the Ombudsman’s decisions.
In a virtual press conference on Wednesday, Garcia did not criticize Rama’s presence in City Hall.
“That’s good nga nibista (he visited). It just shows that mayor Rama is still concerned about how things are being done and handled in the City of Cebu,” said Garcia.
The outgoing local executive had fully delegated his duties to Hontiveros as the acting mayor, in accordance with the Local Government Code.
Garcia also said Rama’s visit might mean he wants to help as a private citizen, and that Rama’s staff had been clearing out his personal items since the elections.
Respect for Rama
Despite what Garcia described as “attacks” from Rama, including criticisms on radio, television and social media and being called the “fake mayor,” Garcia affirmed his consistent respect for his predecessor.
“Ever since I became the acting mayor and even full-fledged mayor, I have the highest and deepest respect for mayor Mike Rama,” he said.
“Even despite all of his attacks against me whether it would be radio, televisions, social media… his attacks on calling me the ‘fake mayor,’ on my decisions and everything, nakadungog ba mong tanan nga naa koy bati nga estorya parte niya (did you all hear me say anything bad about him)? Wala gyud (never),” Garcia added. “Until this point in time, wala gyud koy bati naistorya niya (I’ve never said anything bad about him).”
When asked about a potential reconciliation, Garcia said, “There is nothing to reconcile about kay wala koy sala niya (because I did not wrong him).”
“But I don’t know how he feels about me,” he added. / JPS