‘I want Cebu City to have its own identity. Cebu City is not Singapore,’ says the new mayor, a nephew of Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia
CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia took his oath as the mayor of the Queen City of the South on Wednesday, October 9, after suspended Mayor Michael Rama was dismissed from public service.
On September 9, the Ombudsman ordered Rama’s dismissal after they found him guilty of nepotism and grave misconduct for unlawfully appointing two of his brothers-in-law in the local government. Besides dismissal, Rama was also punished with forfeiture of retirement benefits and perpetual disqualification for reemployment in government service.
Earlier in May, the Ombudsman placed Rama and seven city officials under preventive suspension for six months due to their involvement with unpaid salaries and discrimination faced by four employees.
In a memorandum dated October 5, Leocadio Trovela, the Central Visayas director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG), informed Garcia that he was to assume the office and title of Cebu City mayor.
Garcia will serve the remainder of the former mayor’s term or until June 30, 2025.
After taking his oath before Trovela at the Cebu City hall, the new mayor began his stint as full-fledged mayor by announcing the discontinuation of Rama’s Singapore-like branding and vision for the city.
“I want Cebu City to have its own identity. Cebu City is not Singapore,” Garcia said during a press conference.
Starting in 2022, Rama began talking about his aspirations for Cebu City to become Singapore-like. In various fora, he discussed the discipline of Singapore residents, the cleanliness of the city-state, and its infrastructure.
In 2023, Rama asked for P100 billion as budget for 2024 in order to realize his Singapore-like vision. The Cebu City Council cut the proposed budget down to around P22 billion.
Rama later added Melbourne features and Taiwan training to his Singapore-like catch phrase.
If Rama returns or not
In a previous interview, Rama said his vision will continue and will be implemented if he is reelected.
When asked about it again after Garcia’s announcement, Rama dithered in his comment and said he would talk about other more pressing political issues some other time.
Despite the Ombudsman’s order to dismiss and disqualify him, Rama still filed his certificate of candidacy (COC) for reelection as mayor on October 3.
The former mayor’s legal team told reporters on October 4 that they would seek legal remedies once they get a copy of the Ombudsman’s decision on the nepotism case against Rama.
On Monday, October 7, Rama filed before the Supreme Court a petition for certiorari and prohibition with an urgent prayer for a status quo ante order and motion for a special raffle to hear his pleading.
The status quo ante order would prevent the Comelec from canceling Rama’s COC and barring him from running for reelection.
Rama’s preventive suspension is supposed to end in November but with Garcia taking oath, the latter believes that the dismissed mayor might reconsider trying to get back into office after the suspension is lifted.
“Mayor Mike is a lawyer and he knows very well that the Ombudsman’s decision is immediately executory and that is why I took an oath as the mayor of the city of Cebu,” the new mayor said.
On October 8, Garcia filed his COC for mayor of Cebu City. He and Rama will be going up against each other in the May 2025 midterm elections.
Garcia is the son of former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia and a nephew of Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia. He will be carrying the banner of the Kugi Uswag Sugbo (KUSUG) party, which is allied with the governor’s local party, One Cebu.
‘Sympathy’
When asked what his instructions would be for government employees who are supporters or sympathizers of Rama, Garcia assured that he also sympathizes with the ex-mayor.
“You know, this is not anymore about sympathy. This is already about serving the people of the city of Cebu and whether you’re a sympathizer or not, or you’re a supporter or not, as long as you are employed here, you must do your work,” Garcia said.
The new mayor admitted that there will be and have already been some changes in the structuring of the local government and appointment of city department heads. Recently, personnel of the Cebu City Public Information Office have been replaced.
Meanwhile, as to the direction of the local government, Garcia exclaimed that it would be “business as usual.”
Garcia told reporters that one of his top priorities would be to finish building the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), which has faced multiple delays since the hospital started construction in mid-2015. Only three out of the ten floors of CCMC are presently operating.
Among the programs the new mayor wants to continue is the Task Force Gubat sa Baha that aims to address flooding problems in the city, and the local government’s housing program. – Rappler.com
