THE Cebu City Council, or at least the majority Team Rama councilors, are entering an interesting phase weeks after the minority Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) almost gained control of the legislative body when Councilors Nendel Hanz Abella and Dave Tumulak bolted Team Rama to become independent (translation: sidling close to the BOPK).
The councilors are into a bigger test as they deliberate on two important measures, the proposed annual budget for the city next year and the memorandum of agreement (MOA) between the Cebu City Government and the Provincial Board to swap lands and solve the 93-1 lots impasse. Both measures emanated from the office of Mayor Tomas Osmeña and thus test the objectivity of the council members.
BOPK councilors are, as expected, moving for the passage of the two measures without amendments but the Team Rama councilors think otherwise. They are rightly subjecting the budget and the MOA to deeper scrutiny, but whether they are doing it as fiscalizers or as obstructionists will be seen in the coming days. The city council is not the mayor's stamp pad but it is not also a base for politicking.
That's a difficult balancing act. In the case of the budget, the city council must ensure that all the money allocated would benefit the city's constituents and would not be wasted or used as capital to advance the executive's political goals. In the case of the MOA, the city council should ensure that the City Government is not disadvantaged by the land swap or become accessory to the executive's own politicking.
Osmeña has been exerting pressure on Team Rama councilors not only through the BOPK councilors but also through the informal settlers who are 93-1 beneficiaries. By the way, this is also a test for the two independent councilors. They should also look at the two measures independently and vote objectively. So far, they seem to be leaning BOPK's way on the MOA.
How the majority in the city council will act on the two measures will determine the kind of political opposition that would be at play in the city council in the coming months.