Ex-Cebu City mayor’s ally gets council seat

CEBU CITY — After nearly six months of being vacant, the city council seat left by resigned councilor Firmo Dayao has finally been filled.

President Arroyo has signed the appointment papers of Vicente Kintanar Jr. as new city councilor, formally replacing Dayao who resigned last Sept. 24 for health reasons.

This now leaves one more vacant seat in the 18-man council, that of Eleno Abellano who died just last week.

Kintanar, 62, who writes a column for Sun Star, is not new to the city council, having been a former councilor and vice mayor. The vice mayor presides over local councils.

Kintanar, a native of Argao, was endorsed to the position by former mayor Alvin Garcia, the head of the local opposition Kusug party.

He said he already has a faxed copy of his appointment papers signed by Executive Secretary Alberto Romulo on behalf of Mrs. Arroyo.

Kintanar brings back to five the number of opposition councilors in the city council and he promised to be an active fiscalizer, a role he played in his previous stints.

The Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) majority counts on 10 members, down by one with the demise of Abellana.

Kintanar said he plans to take his oath either tomorrow or Tuesday, hoping to immediately attend the regular session on Wednesday.

He said one of the first things he will do is study the proposed tax compromise agreement between the city government and Globe Telecom to find out whether the deal is really advantageous to the city.

He also wants to look into road repairs costing P34 million which the city reportedly wants to pay out of its calamity funds. — Freeman News Service