CEBU CITY, Philippines – Vice President-elect Leni Robredo will administer the oath to Cebu City mayor-elect Tomas Osmeña on June 28.

Cebu City acting mayor Margarita Osmeña, the incoming mayor’s wife, confirmed this to Rappler.

Margarita said her husband requested Robredo to administer the oath to him because of his friendship with Robredo’s late husband, former Naga City mayor and interior secretary Jesse Robredo.  Jesse Robredo died in a plane crash in 2012 on his way home to Naga after a trip to Cebu. 

Osmeña will take his oath at the Cebu City Sports Center on June 28 at 4 pm. The event is open to the public, Margarita said.

“Tommy doesn’t want any formality. Anyone who wants to come can come. No invitations,” she told Sun.Star Cebu. 

The incoming vice president is the highest elected official of the Liberal Party, Osmeña’s political party.

Robredo was last seen in Cebu on June 14, when she and her 3 daughters took a quick break to swim with whale sharks, a popular tourist activity in Oslob. It was a private visit.

Osmeña had campaigned for the LP tandem of Manuel “Mar” Roxas II and Robredo in the last elections. He has remained loyal to the LP even as many of his local party mates switched to then presidential candidate Rodrigo Duterte, his friend.

Osmeña, however, was seen at the Cebu thanksgiving party of Duterte.

Osmeña – who had served as mayor from 1988 to 1995, and from 2001 to 2010 –   has yet to assume office but he has already offered a P50,000-cash reward to police officers who kill drug lords in the line of duty.

Cebu City, under Osmeña, was included in the 2009 the Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, which brought international attention to the summary executions of suspected criminals in Davao City under Duterte. Under Osmena’s watch, there were 202 vigilante-style killings in Cebu City. – Rappler.com