A Tomas Osmeña resignation as vice mayor would lead to ascent of majority-bloc Councilor Winston Pepito to vacated post and wrest from BOPK top leadership in Cebu City Council
BOPK CONTROL. THE 2025-2028 administration at Cebu City Hall is controlled by BOPK. The mayor and vice mayor are BOPK. Mayor Nestor Archival runs the executive department and Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña the legislative department.
Even though the majority bloc -- an alliance of Raymond Alvin Garcia’s Kusug and Mike Rama’s Baru –dominates the vote, the vice mayor wields clout as department head and, as presiding officer, influences the agenda and breaks the tie.
THE DEAL-BREAKER. BOPK would lose its situs of power in the local legislature if Tomas Osmeña would resign. And the majority bloc can help make that happen: by having two committees approve and recommend the acceptance “as is” the terms for the Bus Rapid Transit project.
Specifically: (1) use of land in South Road Properties for BRT stations and terminals, and (2) keeping the “mall to mall” route, which departed from Tomas Osmeña’s original plan
MAJORITY BLOC. The majority bloc may call VM Osmeña’s bluff by approving the conditions that Tomas has opposed. After all, it controls the vote, in the committees and the plenary.
TRO (BOPK) LEAVES, WP (MAJORITY) COMES IN. As No. 1-ranked councilor, Winston Pepito would assume the vacated post. (Not Dave Tumulak, who polled 14,000-plus more votes than Pepito but had lower percentage of the votes relative to his district’s number of voters.)
Pepito belongs to Partido Kusug, running and winning in the last election under Kusug/(PFP) Partido Federal ng Pilipinas. And Kusug is the other half of the majority alliance.
HE COULD CHANGE HIS MIND. VM Osmeña told the City Council last regular session he’d resign “immediately” if the committees would grant “as is” the BRT terms Tomas considers unacceptable.
But Tomas can avert the potential change of leadership in the City Council by simply not leaving. He can respond to the option or demand – depending on the public mood by that time for his exit – with, like, “I changed my mind.”
ARREST WARRANT TRICKERY. Vlogger, ex-broadcaster Jay Sonza apparently was a victim of the old stunt of staging arrest on weekend or holiday. Thus he had to stay some time in jail.
With the added twist: making it appear in the warrant that the crime was non-bailable.
THE wrong law, a more serious one involving guns, was written, instead of just use of publication for unlawful utterances in relation to cyber-libel.
Clerical mistake, or deliberate tomfoolery to harass Jay Sonza.