[] Mike Rama's objection nine years ago to then mayor Tomas Osmeña's move in recognizing Gervasio Lavilles -- "it's rewriting history," Mike said -- has not settled the issue.
[] Lavilles was a lawyer-journalist and the councilor who authored the Municipal Board resolution urging Congress to enact a Cebu City charter. He had worked for mayor Serging Osmeña when Tomas's father was mayor, then congressman.
RAMA CREDITED, NOT LAVILLES. The facts about who has been credited for the charter of Cebu City, enacted by Congress on October 20, 1936, and who has not:
[] Vicente Rama (1887-1956) has been recognized and honored as "father" of the City Charter from the first year the City Government celebrated the annual Charter Day after being legally converted under Commonwealth Act #58 from municipality or town into a city.
Then congressman of Cebu's third district, Vicente Rama sponsored and worked for the passage of the bill in Congress creating the Cebu City Charter. The charter was approved on October 20, 1936 and inaugurated on February 24, 1937.
[] Gervasio Lavilles, a lawyer-journalist, in 1931 authored, as member of the Municipal Board (1925-1935), Resolution #185, which would convert Cebu town into Cebu City.
The city resolution, signed August 31, 1931 by then municipal president (or mayor) Fructuoso Ramos, led to the Vicente Rama bill that set off the process in Congress.
[] Rama has been given since the beginning the credit of "father" of the City Charter while Lavilles was not recognized and honored as purported author of the cityhood concept.
LAVILLES FAMILY'S LAMENT. The Lavilles family, through a daughter at a 2020 media forum, publicly expressed Gervasio's lament that his role in the creation of Cebu City was "under-appreciated" and recognition had not come before his death in 1986.
It was only in 2017, or 80 years after the city's formal founding, that Lavilles received some kind of recognition from the City Government. Tomas, the mayor then, invited Lavilles's family to a gathering, as part of the 80th Charter Day celebration.
The street, formerly named Bagumbayan, in Barangay Tinago is named after Lavilles. Until now though, the City Council still has to formally honor Lavilles with a title related to the city's founding and make his name part of the Charter Day festivity.
The late Clarence Paul Oaminal, Freeman columnist on bits of Cebu history, suggested in a February 20, 2019 article the "long overdue" honor in Lavilles's memory.
MIKE RAMA'S OBJECTION. When Tomas Osmeña included in the 80th Charter Day in 2017 the function with the Lavilles clan, Mike Rama reportedly "expressed strong displeasure."
It would diminish the role of his grandfather who, Mike said, authored and fought for the bill's passage.
It would re-write history, he added. That's a claim though that must be supported with facts on the birth and passage of the proposal. Which historians don't have enough of.
WHAT SPECIFICALLY DID LAVILLES DO? It's clear enough that Lavilles wrote and sponsored the required resolution (Resolution #185) from the local legislature during that period.
It's not known though if the said resolution contained more than a required request and initiative from the local government.
Did it also specify the basic content of the City Charter, including concept of structure and function of the proposed city government, i.e., stuff that can be said to come from the design in Lavilles's mind?
What did Lavilles contribute to the City Charter bill, besides the pro-forma request for congressional action?
'BRAINS' DISTINGUISHED FROM 'FATHER.' There's no dispute about Vicente Rama being the "father" of the City Charter.
Rama signed and filed the bill as principal sponsor and shepherded its passage, which wasn't a walk on Plaza Independencia because of the reported opposition of other political leaders from Cebu (who believed the "munisipalidad" was not yet ready to become a city).
That means all the legislative work in the House, including the stages that required not just parliamentary skill but also political savvy ("willpower and sponsorship") to overcome obstacles.
The "brains" part is what must bother anyone who allocates credit for the city's founding.
Did Lavilles serve as technical "brains" or assistant in the drafting of the bill? Did he do most if not all the research and writing, with Rama serving as the man in Congress defending and pushing it in committee hearings and plenary deliberations?
Neither the Lavilles family nor Tomas Osmeña and Atty. Oaminal fleshed out the contribution of Lavilles, particularly his work on the resolution, beyond the Municipal Board request, and on the bill that Vicente Rama filed in the House.
ADDED TO THE LACK OF FACTS ON ACTUAL LEGISLATIVE WORK on the city charter is the long-running political feud between Mike Rama and Tomas Osmeña.
When then mayor Tomas announced recognition and honor for Lavilles in 2017, Mike complained that the 80th Charter Day memorial for his grandfather was limited to two baskets of flowers placed at the foot of Vicente Rama's statue.
SETTLING DISAGREEMENT ON THE 'BRAINS" OF THE CITY CHARTER may have the least priority among City Hall leaders these days, given the number and magnitude of the city's current major problems.
The 89th celebration is over or soon gone.
Perhaps before its next Charter Day, its 90th or the 100th.
Lavilles may get his proper title by then.