‘Don’t delegate functions to councilors’

CEBU CITY — The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) cautioned Mayor Tomas Osmeña against pushing through with his plan to delegate some of his functions to city councilors.

DILG regional director Roberto Abejero told The Freeman that Osmeña’s plan is basically illegal under the law.

Abejero said that under the principle of separation of powers, the mayor and the members of the city council have different and distinct functions.

The mayor is the chief of the government’s executive branch, while the councilors belong the legislative branch of government. The third branch is the judiciary.

The legislative branch makes laws and ordinances; the executive branch implements the laws, while the judiciary interprets them.

The separation of powers of the three branches of government is a necessary check-and-balance mechanism, to ensure that no one or no single group of people has the monopoly of power.

Abejero said he will send a letter to Osmeña to remind him that his plan to delegate some of his powers to councilors politically aligned with him is not allowed under the law.

Moreover, Abejero said there is actually no need for Osmeña to delegate some of his functions while he is on leave because there is an acting mayor who can and should dispense the powers of a regular mayor.

Despite Abejero’s statement, City Hall officials, who will run the city’s affairs in the absence of Osmeña, were quick to defend the ailing mayor’s plan.

Acting Mayor Michael Rama said he will take over the functions of Osmeña while the latter is on a six-month leave to undergo more tests and treatment in the United States.

Rama said Osmeña’s plan, if ever it will be adopted, will be implemented only upon his return from his six-month leave.

But Rama said he fully understands the basis of Osmeña’s plan to delegate some of his powers to councilors. He said a mayor is usually swamped with too many documents to sign.

Delegating these administrative functions to members of the city council will enable the mayor to concentrate on his primary responsibility, which is running the city, Rama said.

Rama promised that he will bring up the matter with the local DILG officials, the city council, the city attorney and other key officials of City Hall.

For his part, city attorney Ramiro Madarang said it depends on how the DILG interprets the delegation of the mayor’s functions.

According to Madarang, what is illegal is the delegation of decision-making functions to some of the members of the city council and not the ministerial function.

He said signing documents is just a ministerial function of the mayor which can be delegated. — Freeman News Service