It appears that Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young is working more for the benefit of his patron, Rep. Tomas Osmeña, than for the people of Cebu City, whose interests he is duty-bound to serve and protect.
Reacting to a complaint Mayor Michael Rama filed against Osmeña with the Office of the Ombudsman, Young said he wants to know if Rama filed the suit in his private capacity or in the name of the city, implying that he would object if it was the latter.
Rama sued in connection with Osmeña’s acceptance of two Dodge Chargers allegedly donated by a private investor at the SRP — Osmeña claims the vehicles were bought — and for making them look like police cars, complete with official Cebu City seals (since repainted, seals removed).
Young said Rama cannot sue on behalf of the city without authority from the city council. The argument implies that Rama does not have the consent of the Cebuanos, as represented by the council.
What Young seems to forget is that he actually does not know if the Cebuanos actually do not approve of the filing of the complaint against Osmeña. Neither Young nor the city council has done no survey to feel the pulse of Cebuanos on the matter.
It is not enough to invoke representation of the people because, by the same token, Rama can use the same argument for his own. Indeed, while both Rama and Young were elected by popular mandate, it is to the mayor and not the vice mayor that presumption of ascendancy is given.
In other words, the mayor is a far more logical and authoritative representative of the people of Cebu City than is the vice mayor, who is no more than a spare tire, his leadership of the city council notwithstanding.
Young hasn’t had the chance, and perhaps the willingness, to find out the true sentiments of the Cebuanos regarding Osmeña and his controversial cars. He does not know if the Cebuanos may actually be cheering Rama on.
Indeed, the possibility is great, that if elections were held today on the issue of those two Osmeña cars, Rama would clobber him hands down. So Young had better quit splitting hairs over whose authority. Ask not for whom the bell tolls.