Expected counter-coup at the Cebu City council goes pfft

The expected counter-coup at the city council did not come, disappointing city hall employees and kibitzers alike who dropped everything and came in droves to the session hall anticipating fireworks.

The Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, which enjoys a slim majority in the council, was expected to mount a counter-coup in retaliation for a minor but well-timed putsch last week that saw the rug pulled from under the feet of two of its members.

Michael Rama, who was then in Japan, and Jocelyn Pesquera lost their committee chairmanships when councilors loyal to Mayor Alvin Garcia initiated a snap revamp.

There was nothing the BOPK, which holds a 10-8 majority in the council, could do at the time since another member, Edgardo Labella, was home sick, while another member, Fe Mantua Ruiz, mysteriously abstained, prompting a subsequent loyalty check.

But talk of a counter-coup, fueled by the return of Rama and an emergency party meeting on the eve of yesterday's session, spread like wildfire that no sooner had the session hall doors opened than they were immediately filled by both kibitzers and city hall employees alike.

Excluding the councilors and the members of their staff and reporters, more the 300 people filled the hall and others had to be content to eavesdrop on the proceedings from outside in the corridors.

City hall employees in particular were especially agog over the anticipated fireworks.

Security guards had to lock the doors to the session hall to keep onlookers from entering the jampacked room that can only accommodate 300 persons.

An expectant silence descended on the session hall for a few seconds after all the committee reports were made but no one from the BOPK stood up to initiate the counter-coup.

Sources said Councilor Manuel Legaspi had prepared a privilege speech but no one could tell why he did not deliver it.

But even if the BOPK councilors did not do anything to regain their lost leadership, they succeeded in blocking a number of resolutions proposed by Garcia's supporters. - Freeman News Service