I'm sorry, Fred
The title of this column should have been "I'm sorry, Sir Eddie." It came from a conversation I had with a gentleman while I was in the vicinity of radio station DYRC last Sunday evening. When we met, I saw glee written in his face as if we were long lost friends. He embarrassed me, actually. His handshake was firm and he said, "Attorney, nag plano jud ko makigkita ko nimo aron mangutana og update sa Talisay City." I wanted to tell him straight that I had nothing to do with our neighboring city but I did not want to place him in the same embarrassing predicament I was in. Still, before I could react, he mentioned like observing that there are two mayors in Talisay City making contradictory governance policies. That was why he wanted to see me, according to him, in "my Talisay City office."
In my discomfiture, I realized what Fred tried to fathom. To him, the actions of the top Talisay City officials involve executive power. He was not incorrect. His analysis was anchored on media accounts. To be candid, I also read from our papers stories that indicated the very perception Fred garnered. For instance, there was a report that Sir Eddie appointed retired General Hiram Benatiro as the traffic czar of Talisay City. I was not surprised by such designation because Benatiro used to be dean of the College of Criminology of the Gullas owned University of the Visayas. The mayor knew the professional background of the general. Then somewhere in the same papers was the news that the head of the City of Talisay Traffic Operation and Development Authority (CT-TODA) was a certain Almond de la Peña, a protege of Vice Mayor Alan Bucao. So Talisay City has a situation where two men headed one unit and they got their marching orders from two different leaders. Students of public corporation law would tell us that the power to designate personnel in the local government units belongs to the mayor and if it was true that this de la Peña got his position from the vice mayor, then the undesirable situation arose from someone acting like another mayor.
Then again another set of news strengthened the perspective of Fred on the issue. One day, Sir Eddie, the statesman, was quoted as saying he was willing to help other local government units stressed with the problem of solid waste disposal. Using his diplomatic skill, he did not mention Cebu City, the very city faced with such a Herculean problem. At that time when the news of the Gullas' ambiguous offer was reported, the story of the case filed by Councilor Joel Garganera versus Mayor Tomas Osmeña hit headlines. Without naming Cebu City, Gullas opened the chance of local government units having trouble with solid waste disposal to use the Talisay City landfill at Barangay Tapul. At that time, Councilor Garganera and Mayor Osmeña were still busy squabbling about the problem.
Just at about the same time, contradictory news was featured. Talisay City is not open to the idea of helping other LGUs address their garbage problem. The land fill of Talisay City at Tapul is only for the garbage Of Talisaynons and not for any other LGUs. This sentiment was expressed by no less than the vice mayor of Talisay City. Bucao was opposed to the good neighborliness of Gullas. Furthermore, the vice mayor had received unsolicited proposals regarding the operation of the Talisay landfill.
Fred was current in his examination. The local government code speaks of the vice mayor as heading the Sangguniang Panlungsod which, in my limited understanding of the law, is the legislative body of cities like Talisay. Yet the act of asking interested private persons to submit proposals to operate a government facility like the Tapul landfill is nowhere near the legislative power of the vice mayor, at the very least, it is within the power of the mayor. It goes without saying that Bucao is exercising the power of the mayor of which he is not, as of this time. Differently said, there are, if Fred's observation were correct, two mayors of Talisay City.
The perception that Vice Mayor Bucao is trying to wield powers not belonging to his office is a gross disrespect of the mayor. He may be in a hurry to become the city mayor but he should not attempt to intrude into the powers of the mayor. Now, can you blame me if initially I thought the title of today's column could have been, "I'm sorry, Sir Eddie"?
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