Labella wants public participation in session

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella is planning to allow some Cebu City constituents to attend and speak during sessions of the Cebu City Council to air their concerns and sentiments.

He said he wants to do this because he believes that nobody has the monopoly of knowledge and the city legislators need suggestions from their constituents.

Labella said he will try to convince the members of the city council to support his plan and they can start to formulate a system on how to implement it.

The vice mayor is thinking of allowing every guest to speak for only 10 to 15 minutes so that more can be accommodated in every session.

Mayor Michael Rama supports Labella’s recommendation that is patterned after other legislative bodies abroad like in London and other developed countries.

In a press conference yesterday, Labella assured that under his stewardship as the presiding officer of the city council, he will be fair to all.

He also said that although the council is composed mostly of members affiliated with the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK), he believes that they will not obstruct legislations and projects just for political reasons.

Labella said that one of their missions is to help ensure that new and existing ordinances are properly implemented, especially those related to tax collection, comprehensive land use plan, disaster control, environment and others.

Cynthia Kahulugan, head of the Sangguniang Panglungsod secretariat, said there are 2,372 existing ordinances that were enacted by the City Council since 1935, but close to half are considered inactive.

Kahulugan also claimed that about P2 million was saved by the city when the council implemented a paperless session because they no longer need to purchase papers and ink for the weekly agenda to be distributed to each of the legislators.

Kahulugan said they used to spend about P60,000 every week for office supplies and ink for the copiers.  (FREEMAN)