[] The trend to hire “night mayors” to govern after dark was noted in the U.S. in 2023, with VOA News reporting that 15 American cities, led notably by New York, created “night mayor” positions to liaison between local government and nightlife businesses.
[] See below how the Cebu City version varies from models outside the country.
LEASE UP TO JUNE 30, 2028 SIGNED. The “Mayor of the Night” program that seeks to provide night service from the Cebu City Government may start soon.
The contract of lease for the office space was signed Monday, March 2, 2025, presumably by Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. for the City and an unnamed representative of Cebu Exchange Tower (Cebex) in Cebu I.T. Park, Lahug.
The City Council had approved P5,111,550 —cut down from the earlier-reported P12.5 million -- for rental of two units on Cebex’s second floor. The lease covers February 1, 2026 to June 30, 2028, or a period of two years and five months.
CREATED BY EXECUTIVE ORDER. Executive Order (EO) No. 027, signed by the mayor October 23, 2025, provides for “round-the-clock” city operations and authorizes Vice Mayor Tomas Osmena “to oversee the program’s implementation under the authority and supervision of the mayor.”
VM’S OVERSEEING FUNCTION NOT CLEAR. The reason is that the EO, supposedly covering the “framework” of the “round-the-clock” operations, doesn’t limit Vice Mayor Osmeña’s authority to the night operations.
Is it the EO intent to vest in the VM authority to implement the entire 24/7 operations, not just the night part of it?
If “no,” then the language is not specific enough.
LANGUAGE HERE IS IMPORTANT as EO No. 027 has the effect of the law. It allocates authority and responsibility, which must be expressed as clearly as can be.
The term “24/7” does not apply just to the night operations but also the regular office hours.
The regular office hours -- 8 a.m. to 12 noon; 1 p.m. to 5 p.m.Monday to Friday -- plus the night hours seven days of the week (whose schedule still has to be specified) must equal the 24/7 or “round the clock” operations.
Does the EO install the vice mayor -- under the authority and direction of the mayor – as the official in charge of implementing the entire 24/7 program? The EO language seems to do so.
THE NEW HUB IS THE NIGHT HUB, under the “mayor of the night.” Which is only a part of “24/7” operations.
And while they’re at it, they might want to make the terms moreclear and decide to use “night mayor,” instead of “mayor of the night.”
Some people with Rep. Bong Suntay’s imagination might taint the position with a meaning akin to that of “lady of the night.”
CEBU CITY MODEL DIFFERENT FROM VERSIONS OVERSEAS. (1) The major difference is purpose and scope. Their “night mayors” abroad, as the one in New York City, serve the whole night industry, not just the call-center employees that VM Osmena has shown public affection for and City Hall will now serve even during nighttime.
Cebu City’s “mayor of the night” office will provide mainly such services as receiving payments and issuing permits and clearances. New York City’s, called Nightlife Office, is “a necessary lifeline to serve all the industries operating at night.”
The night mayor offices abroad deal with nightlife as “a cultural economy, more as an asset that needs to be elevated, regulated within reason, with policies and practices that support its growth.”
Being served there are not just the employees but also the night businesses and owners/operators they work for.
[2] A separate office is created in the overseas version. The Cebu City model will just gather representatives of a number of City Hall departments/offices, along with a few national offices, housing them in two units of an office complex in I.T. Park, away from City Hall.
[3] A director runs the “night mayor” office abroad. Here, an elected official, the vice mayor is the “mayor of the night” who “oversees” the night hub. It is a mayor-outsourced executive function that the VM multi-tasks with his law-prescribed legislative duty.
The project may be viewed as an experiment, which may be expanded or discarded, depending upon its results.
Like, how many clients it will serve and how much load it will take off the burden on City Hall’s day services.
Would the actual performance be worth the P5.1 million spent on rental alone?