Quandary

Dear Editor;

Personally I would not want to comment on what is going on in Talisay. I do not want to appear as sourgraping. You all know what happened last election in Talisay City.

There were serious misgivings by my lawyers about the election results but against their advice, I immediately "conceded" victory to Mayor JV Reyes. After all public service is not one man's monopoly. Everyone should be given a chance to serve.

But lately I am alarmed by recent developments that I am constrained to raise my voice, to present my two cents worth of opinion in the interest of the Talisaynons.

First, no direction.

Mayor JVR has been mayor for 9 months but there is no clear direction as to where Talisay is going, what will Talisay be,

One year from now

Five years from now or

Ten years from now?

There is no planning, no forward looking. He brags about his free medicines, free burial, and relocation sites for the informal settlers but these programs were started and implemented during Mayor Soc's time, it's not his but Mayor Soc's.

When he assumed office, he brought his relatives to city hall, some as far as Mindanao. It seems he does not trust the Talisaynons, only his relatives.

A number occupy important positions at City Hall, including his son, the City Administrator. Who acts as if he is mayor.

He wants to borrow P387 million from Landbank or DBP to build a public market in Tabunok but without presenting the details of his plan. He blames the City Council for not giving him authority but how could the City Council do so when he has not even explained how the city would pay the P5 million monthly amortization on a market income presently of less than P2 million a month?

Second.

The Rule of Law.

I caused the founding and establishments of the Talisay City College, during my term as elected first city mayor of the city, thru an ordinance passed by the City Council.

The 4th SP Ordinance No. 2013-05 amending the 1st SP Ordinance No. 2004-05 in Section 3 provides for the composition of the governing board:

a.            Composition – The Governing Body of the College is hereby vested in the Board of Trustees which shall be composed of the following:

i.              City Mayor – Chairman

ii.             College President – Vice Chairman

iii.            Congressman – first district – Member

iv.           SP Chairman, Committee on Education – Member

v.            SP Chairman, Committee on Appropriation, Bud                               get Management and ways and means – Member

vi.           Representative from the CHED – Member

vii.          President, Cebu Technological University

viii.         President, Cebu Normal University

ix.           Representative from the Talisay City Chamber of                              Commerce

x.            DepEd Talisay City Division Superintendent – Ex-                               Officio Member, Board Secretary

xi.           City Treasurer – Ex-Officio member and Treasurer

The 3rd SP Ordinance No. 2008-11 in Section 6 provides for the Administration of the College.

a)            The administration of the college shall be vested in the president of the Talisay City College who shall render full time service. HE SHALL BE APPOINTED BY THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES, upon the recommendation of a duly constituted search committee.

b)            During the consortium period, president shall be assisted by the CNU, CSCST, and UV College of Nursing Program Coordinator.

c)            In case of vacancy by reason of death, resignation, removal for cause or incapacity of the college president to perform the functions of his office, THE BOARD SHALL  HAVE  THE  AUTHORITY  TO  DESIGNATE  AN OFFICER-IN-CHARGE pending the appointment of a new president.

Pursuant to its authority the Board of Trustees passed Resolution No. 21, S. 2013;

"BE IT RESOLVED FURTHER, that Mr. Richel N. Bacaltos is hereby appointed and designated as officer-in charge and acting president of Talisay City College effective immediately until such time that a full time and additional designation to his current position."

On February 3, 2014 Mayor JVR issued Executive Order 2014-007 as follows:

"As chairman of the Talisay City College (TCC) Board of  Trustees (BOT) and by authority of the BOT in its meeting last December 10, 2013, I hereby appoint DR. PAULUS MARIAE  L. CAÑETE as officer-in-charge-president of TCC effective immediately, as replacement of Mr. Richel N. Bacaltos who is hereby relieved of his post as OIC-President of TCC.

Mayor JVR blatantly disregarded the law when he issued the executive order replacing duly appointed college president Richel N. Bacaltos with Paulus Mariae L. Cañete on a falsified authority.

There is no Board Resolution appointing Canete, there is no Board Resolution giving Mayor JVR authority to appoint.

We now ask Mayor JVR, where is the rule of law? Can the mayor just willfully disobey a city ordinance?

Is he above the law? He even padlocked the office of the president and the Registrar's Office and prevented entry into the school premises duly appointed school officers.

Does Mayor JVR think he can do what he pleases with the Talisay City College even without the authority of the Board of Trustees?

He ordered the payment of the salary of the college president to Cañete on the basis of his invalid appointment. He has unlawfully withheld the salary of President Bacaltos and those of his working staff.

May I remind the mayor that City Hall is not his private business. City Hall is a public office and there are laws and processes to observe, most important of which is the Rule of Law.

One of his first acts in office was to issue an Executive Order urging the businesses in Talisay to give preference toTalisaynons for employment.

Yet in his unlawful appointment of a college president, he unilaterally chose a Mandauehanon. I have nothing against Mandauehanons, some of the best minds in Cebu, the Cabahugs, the Corteses, the Senos, are from Mandaue.

Is there no Talisaynon qualified to be a college president? Is the appointment of Cañete not a case of Mayor JVR violating his own executive order?

Why don't you practice what you preached?

There is no harmony between Mayor JVR and the city council.

Instead, by his willful disrespect to the law, he has projected discord and distrust.

I fear under Mayor JVR's leadership or lack of it, Talisay is going nowhere.

(SGD.) ATTY. EDUARDO R. GULLAS