Tommy goes on 6-month leave

CEBU CITY — Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced the other day that he will go on a leave of absence for six months to go to the United States to undergo medical test and for a much-needed vacation.

"I’m going on an official leave for six months effective immediately," Osmeña told The Freeman. "I’m going to New York to undergo medical test."

He said his trip is being arranged by acting mayor Michael Rama and his brother, Sen. Sergio Osmeña III.

Dr. Manuel Lim, the mayor’s doctor, had advised him to rest for one month in Cebu before going to the US.

Osmeña was rushed to the hospital unconscious on March 9 after collapsing at the Cebu Metropolitan Cathedral where he stood as sponsor at a wedding. His blood pressure then rose to 240 over 120.

After about week in the Intensive Care Unit of the Chong Hua Hospital, Osmeña was brought home upon his insistence. He was, however, brought back to the same hospital less than a week later.

His prolonged stay in the hospital has already triggered questions about his real health condition. His announcement of his six-month leave of absence is expected to raise more questions about his fitness to continue functioning as city mayor.

One of the mayor’s critics in the city council, Jose Navarro, president of the Association of Barangay Captains, has demanded that Osmeña reveal his true state of health.

Osmeña, however, was quick to dispel speculations that he is no longer fit to run the city.

He promised to show the medical report about his condition as soon as it is available.

He, however, expressed resignation that his political opponents will always believe what they want to believe regardless of his true conditions.

"I don’t care what my detractors said. What is important is what the people think and what’s happening at City Hall. My detractors would always be my detractors. There’s no hope in them," Osmeña said.

Management team

While on leave, a management team at City Hall, led Vice Mayor Michael Rama, city administrator Nigel Paul Villarete and some of the department heads, will manage the affairs of the city.

Osmeña expressed hopes that his six-month leave will allow him to "rethink and relax."

He said he had instructed his consultant, lawyer Raul Bito-on, to discuss with his consultant on political affairs, Saul Montecillo, Rene Sanapo of the Management Internal Computer System, and Villarete to find ways to reduce the paper work at City Hall.

"We are trying to sit down with the Commission on Audit. The mayor is swamped with useless paper work," Osmeña said, adding that even applications for sick leave of city employees have to pass through his office for approval.

Other opposition councilors welcomed Osmeña’s announcement of his six-month leave. Councilors Vicente Kintanar Jr. and Carmen Piramide even asked the public to pray for the mayor’s speedy recovery.

Kintanar, however, said he was surprised why it would take that long for the mayor to go back to work.

"I really never thought it would take that long to recover. Based on the medical bulletin, there was nothing wrong with the mayor. I thought he would be back in office after the Holy Week," Kintanar said.

Navarro, for his part, said he is hoping that Osmeña will no longer show resentment toward barangay heads allied with the opposition when he returns to City Hall.

On Monday morning, Osmeña was brought to the Cebu Doctor’s Hospital to undergo magnetic resonance angiography to determine whether there was an abnormality in his vision due to problems on his cerebral blood vessel.

The result, according to Lim, was negative. The twitching in Osmeña’s right eye is normal and is not a cause for alarm, the doctor added. — Freeman News Service