The manifesto of many of the barangay captains in the city expressing some kind of a disinterest in supporting Hon. Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama for his candidacy for mayor in the 2010 elections delivered a very disturbing message. Actually, the word distrust would have been more accurate compared to disinterest, but I would not want to use the latter here because it would add grievous insult to the vice mayor's undeserved injury. Unfortunately, when he rhetorically asked what wrong did he do to deserve the kind of rebuke from the barangay captains, his playing coy only tended to exacerbate the situation. Because to the village chiefs, the vice mayor was unable to demonstrate a firm brand of leadership and they did not want to be headed by a wishy-washy of a future mayor, Rama's pretended inability to divine their frustrations only showcased the very subject of their disinterest.
That must be a very harsh political teaching to the vice mayor. And please allow me to present to him a situation with which I hope to test further whether he has learned to be decisive when confronted with questions begging immediate, and most of the times, hard, decisions.
Sometime on May 25, 1992, the city council composed of the ruling BOPK, in obvious payment of a political debt, passed Resolution No. 1124 directing "the City Appraisal Committee, to appraise the proposed but abandoned extension of F. Mina Street, in Barangay Mabolo, for the purpose of disposition to the occupants thereat, the Sta. Cruz Homeowners Association, Inc".
I learned much later from the proponent of the resolution himself that it was a political promise they made in the campaign. In asking for their votes, they committed to allow the occupants of that road to buy it!
On July 14, 1997, the city council passed Ordinance No. 1684 amending the zoning ordinance of the city in the form of identifying the "unused" F. Mina St. to form part of a socialized housing site.
Beyond Resolution No. 1124, series of 1992 and the 1997 amendment of Ordinance No. 1684, only the continued occupation by some settlers of the road has taken place and nothing else. Apparently, city authorities have not appraised the property. Neither have they undertaken any efforts to apportion the road to the occupants and ask them to pay. This much I have learned from the settlers because I happened to have bought a very small parcel of land near the area.
Will the city proceed to sell this road lot to the occupants? Or will it retake this street for the benefit of the public? To answer these queries, the city government, this time thru the city council under the leadership of Vice Mayor Rama, has to grapple certain legal obstacles.
One. Despite the intrusion of the settlers, the road is not an abandoned street. It is still on record to be a road lot. There is no declaration, pursuant to law, declaring it as abandoned. Will the city council make that move now?
Two. Assuming that the city council, under Vice Mayor Rama, favors the interest of these settlers over the public in general, will it allow the sale of this road to the settlers? For how much?
Three. In the event that the appraisal of the lot pegs the amount of the sale at a level that is perceived to be beyond the reach of most of the settlers, and therefore the sale could not proceed, (as in the case of Ortega, another city expropriation), will it have the will to clear the road?
Four. In case the city government believes that the road being a public domain is better left as a street than as a site for the settlers to stay, will it also have the resolve to relocate the settlers to a more ideal place and eventually exercise the political will to demolish the structures when necessary?
I do not want to put the vice mayor on the spot, but, this is one situation where he can show to the Cebuanos that he is just as decisive as the incumbent. How about it, vice mayor?