CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama announced yesterday he is filing criminal charges against some netizens and other persons behind the proliferation of leaflets accusing him as a drug user.
Interviewed over radio station dyCM, Rama said this was after his brother went to his house one early morning bringing with him a leaflet showing his slim figure and tagging him as a drug user.
“Modawat man gyud unta ko og pag-saway apan kun himo-himoan na gani kita og istorya nga dili mao, ilabi na og pasanginlan ka nga adik sa gi-diling drugas, sakit na sab kaayo ug ang akong mga paryente gisakitan na gyud,” the mayor said.
Some of Rama’s political supporters have already identified persons who in the past months accused the mayor as a drug user through the Internet, which was cited as the reason for his slimmer physique.
“Ang pamilya nga mga Rama daghan kaayo ang diabetic, mao nga magbantay gyud ta, dili ta magpataka og kaon kay mopauli ra kana sa lawas. Mao kana nga wala gyud modako ang akong lawas,” the ma-yor explained.
He said he was the one who challenged Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella and other department heads of Cebu City Hall to undergo a drug test a few weeks ago to prove that they are not drug dependents.
He said he was happy because not one official tested positive, which means no one is into illegal drugs.
Although he did not tag anyone, including political nemesis Tomas R. Osmeña, as the one orchestrating the move to tarnish his image, he appealed for his political foes to stop engaging in dirty politics.
“Dili lang ta magdinaotay nga below the belt na, kay ako wala man gyud ko mohimo og pagpangdaot nga personalan na,” Rama said.
Osmeña had said rumors that Rama is into illegal drugs did not come from him.
During the 2013 election campaign period, though, somebody accused Rama of being protector of a druglord in the city, prompting him to file criminal charges against such person, whom he later forgave after making a public apology. — Rene U. Borromeo/RHM (FREEMAN)