Rama seeks council authority to sign agreement with Metro Cebu body

CEBU, Philippines - After his authority to sign an agreement with the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board was questioned by the members of the City Council, Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is now asking the council’s authority to enter into an agreement to strengthen Metro Cebu’s development, urbanization and economic growth.

Rama’s signing in the Memorandum of Agreement with MCDCB in April 2011 was questioned by the City Council because he did not have the authority to sign on behalf of the city government. Rama, however, said his signing of the MOA was done in his personal capacity.

However, Rama was forced to secure the council’s authority upon the request of MCDCB chairperson and Governor Hilario Davide III.

Davide asked Rama to secure a resolution from the council authorizing him to sign the new MOA.

Councilor Noel Wenceslao, a member of the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan, sponsored the resolution giving authority to Rama. The resolution was referred yesterday to the City Legal Office.

“Every term mangayo gyud og authority for the MOA,” Wenceslao said.

On March 21, MCDCB amended the MOA following the discussion on the need for member entities to renew their commitment by signing a new agreement.  Also, taking into consideration the newly-elected local officials and appointed heads of offices of the private and public organizations and agencies.

The MCDCB is a coordinating body for metro-wide planning and development created on April 1, 2011 through a MOA signed by local government executives, heads of national government agencies, and leaders of the private – civil society sector.

The MCDCB was created to establish, strengthen, and institutionalize, by mutual agreement and beyond administrative and political tenure and terms of officers, inter-local and public-private sector collaboration for the planning and development of Metro Cebu covering the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Talisay, Danao, Carcar and Naga; the municipalities of Compostela, Liloan, Consolacion, Cordova, Minglanilla, and San Fernando and the Province of Cebu.

These cities and municipalities will then be committed to an integrated development; urban and land use planning and zoning; transport and traffic management; pollution control and solid waste management; flood control; drainage and sewerage management; urban renewal and shelter provision; health and sanitation; public safety; road improvement and infrastructure development; coastal resources; watershed; and environmental management; disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation to achieve integrated, inclusive, and sustained development of Metropolitan Cebu, among others.

Due to the rapid growth and urbanization, Davide said the Metropolitan Cebu needs to keep pace and benchmark itself with top ranking ‘livable’ cities in the world for it to attract investment, recruit and retain talents, and remain competitive.

“The unprecedented pace of urbanization are straining city and municipal resources and infrastructures, and challenging social, economic, and environmental sustainability. These persistent and common urban afflictions and issues are ‘transboundary’ in nature and thus, extend beyond the geo-political boundaries of a single or specific local government unit,” Davide said. — (FREEMAN)