Rama dared: Show us you are different

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is perceived to have won because of the programs of government of the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK) that has been dominating the city politics for more than a decade now.

But while he is tied to the policies and programs started by his predecessor and while the people have become tired of politicians promising the same things over and over again, the challenge posed by the public to Rama is for the new mayor to show that his will be different from the past administration.

In a forum organized by the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. yesterday attended by different sectors in the city, Rama presented once more the list of his priorities during the first 100 days of his term.

The forum sought to inform the public of the significance of the first 100 days of an official which the speaker, Roderick John Abellanosa of the University of San Carlos, said could have give the public a glimpse of the official's term but must not be used as a measure of their accomplishments.

The audience gave Rama's agenda a good reception but there was still the comment that says it is no different from the promises of officials who have held the position in the past.

Every time a term of office refreshes, officials are heard promising to address the same problems that was promised to be address before.

Among these are the problems of garbage, potholes on the city streets, absence of a drainage system and malnutrition.   Rama was criticized by his priorities that reactor Juan Mercado, a columnist, said do not address the real problems being faced by the city right now. (THE FREEMAN)