[] Both Glenn and Tomas, along with their respective legislatures, may have been violating the law, per a DILG opinion that cites the Local Government Code and a Supreme Court ruling.
[] The Gwen Garcia administration’s ban on then vice governor Junjun Davide apparently was legally supported by the DILG after the fact.
A LEGAL opinion of the DILG (Department of Interior & Government) has declared that vice governors and vice mayors do not have the rights of an ordinary member of the local legislature.
Dated August 1, 2025 and issued under the DILG secretary’s authority, the opinion was signed by Atty. Romeo P. Benitez, undersecretary for external, legal and legislative affairs, and identified as DILG Opinion 95, series of 2025, which expressly states in bold font:
“… the Vice Mayor/Vice Governor has no right to introduce or sponsor a legislative measure, chair a particular committee, participate in a debate, or deliver a privilege speech…”
Two paragraphs earlier, the DILG opinion says that “the power of the Vice Mayors/Vice Governors is limited to the power to vote and only in case of a tie.”
VG/VM – UNLIKE BOARD MEMBERS – DOESN’T REPRESENT A GROUP. The DILG memo cited the Supreme Court ruling in the case of Javier vs. Cadiao (GR #185369, August 3, 2016).
Regular and ex-officio members of the City Council and the Provincial Board, the Cadiao ruling said, “enjoy full rights of participation, which include debating and voting, all exercised in pursuit of championing the interests of their respective constituencies,” but the vice governor or vice mayor does not represent a particular group.
ROLE OF PRESIDING OFFICER. “Logically,” the SC said in Cadiao, “the presiding officer should be the embodiment of impartiality,” as he or she is without liberty to readily take sides or cast a vote on every question.
The presiding officer does not enjoy “the full rights of participation in the floors” of the legislature and is instead “the holder of body politics’ general mandate,” thus having the power to conclude an issue.
Section 49 of the LGC or Local Government Code is explicit, as the SC in Cadiao says that “the presiding officer shall vote only to break a tie.”
While the vice governor or vice mayor is counted to determine a quorum, he or she is not considered a regular member who enjoys “the full rights of participation.”
THAT, AND THE RULE THAT WHAT THE LAW DOES NOT INCLUDE, THE LAW EXCLUDES. The DILG opinion says the LGC enumerates the powers of regular and ex-officio members on legislative participation and also specifies the powers of presiding officers.
JUNJUN DAVIDE HAD BEEN GAGGED not by a DILG opinion, which was issued only in August 2025, but through the Provincial Board’s IRP or internal rules of procedure, which were amended for political purposes in 2019.
Davide was elected vice governor in 2019 along with a “contra partido” governor and board that changed its rules of procedure, and he quietly submitted to the gag, speaking out only after 100 days when asked by the news media about his accomplishments.
BAN LIFTED WHEN SOCO BECAME VG TO GUV PAM AFTER 2025 ELECTIONS. Gwen Garcia lost to Pam Baricuatro in the May 2025 elections, but the PB, dominated by the One Cebu/Gwen Garcia party, amended its IRP on July 7 of the same year, striking down the ban that had shut out Junjun Davide for two terms.
Instead of retaining the section that would have also gagged Glenn Soco, the PB reenacted the entire set of rules but removed the “anti-VG” provision, making it no longer about Davide but about their own ally, Glenn.
IN FAIRNESS, PB DID IT BEFORE DILG ISSUED MEMO. The DILG released its opinion on August 1, 2025, or almost a month after the PB reenacted its IRP on July 7, thus the PB members, particularly the lawyers among them, may not have been aware of the Cadiao case cited by the DILG.
CEBU CITY COUNCIL MUST BE BLISSFULLY UNAWARE OF THE BAN ON VM. News media has frequently reported that Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña did not preside over the City Council either because he was absent or because he was sponsoring a resolution or ordinance or making a committee report, as he was appointed chairman of the Cultural and Historical Affairs Committee.
Previous vice mayors were known to take part in City Council discussions, filing and defending resolutions and ordinances simply by stepping down from the presiding officer’s rostrum and giving up the gavel.
How would the City Council, if confronted with the DILG memo, react to the legal ban on the vice mayor?
DOES LEGISLATURE’S IRP ‘LEGALIZE’ ACTS OF VG/VM FUNCTIONING AS A MEMBER? Cebu Provincial Board and Cebu City Council have relied on their respective IRP or rules of procedure in defining the job description of the vice governor and vice mayor.
However, a provision in the IRP does not legalize activities of the VG or VM that clearly violate the Local Government Code, as the DILG flatly states in its memo.
MEASURES PASSED BY A LEGISLATURE WHERE VG/VM VIOLATES THE LAW “enjoy the presumption of validity,” but the DILG opinion says these can be assailed on various legal grounds, including the lack of authority of the legislator sponsoring them.
As to the vice governor or vice mayor concerned, a DILG Region X blog says the offense may amount to “dereliction of duty.”
