Council overrides Rama’s veto

CEBU, Philippines - The Cebu City Council yesterday overrode the veto of Mayor Michael Rama on the ordinance that will prevent him from demolishing the houses inside the Citi-Center Commercial Complex in Barangay Kamagayan unless a relocation site is provided for the occupants.

Councilor Edgardo Labella, one of the mayor’s ally in the City Council, left the session hall before the issue was deliberated while the two other Team Rama-allied councilors, Edu Rama and Jose Daluz III, were absent.

For his part, Councilor Ronald Cuenco, another Team-Rama-allied councilor supported the move of the 14 other councilors allied with the Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK) in overriding the mayor’s veto.

Councilor Alvin Dizon, chairman of the City Council’s committee on housing, said their move of enacting the ordinance that prevents the mayor from demolishing the houses in the Citi-Center Commercial Complex is to ensure that the city will not violate the law.

The ordinance mandates that the city government shall first conduct adequate consultation with the informal settlers before implementing the clearing of their houses to identify and agree on the relocation sites for them.

Mayor Michael Rama refused to comment on the move of the city council but insisted that his administration is planning to build a condominium project in the area for the city employees that still do not have their own houses.

In his proposed P11.8 billion budget for 2012, the mayor allocated P100 million as the initial budget for the construction of the city’s condominium project in Kamagayan, but the City Council slashed the amount.

The former Citi-Center Commercial Complex was a private wet market that was forfeited in favor of Cebu City after its owners failed to pay close to P9 million of real property taxes despite series of demands. — (FREEMAN)