SUMMARY
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CEBU, Philippines – Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama swore on his inauguration day, Thursday, June 30, that he and his administration will make Cebu City “second to none.”
Weeks after the local elections concluded, Rama’s tone was conciliatory, and he even paid tribute to his rival Tommy Osmeña, referring to him as his “mentor.”
“This is the beginning of a new journey to making Cebu City, and I will borrow my mentor’s mantra, ‘making Cebu City second to none,’” Rama said after taking his oath of office at Plaza Sugbo, in front of Cebu City Hall.
Rama promised to push ambitious major city projects and multi-sectoral programs to gain bigger economic growth for the Visayas’ premier city.
He also said that his alliance with the administration of President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. and Vice President Sara Duterte will make promoting his projects easier.
“That is not farfetched. That is not impossible with God, BBM, Sara, the [House] Speaker (Martin Romualdez), and the Senate President. They are all on our side,” Rama said.
The mayor is taking the helm of Cebu City once again after losing the 2016 race to Osmeña and serving as vice mayor from 2019 to 2021. He assumed the remainder of late Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella, who died in November 2021.
Rama, who leads local party Partido Barug, called on the rival party of Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) to come together on the development of the South Road Properties (SRP) project, the city’s biggest cash cow. The project is also the most contentious issue between the two parties.
“We have been told by our mentor that the SRP is the future of the city. We will make it happen and turn it over to him as our gift for his mentoring,” Rama said.
Earlier in April, Rama promised that the city would pay off its remaining debt for the SRP before the end of his term. That is projected to be done by August.
Top priorities
Rama said among his priorities would be the implementation of the bus rapid transit (BRT) system, another pet project of Osmeña during his terms in the early 2000s.
During his speech, Rama enumerated his “21 Gun Salute” promise, or his priority agenda.
This included the establishment of free public wifi, distribution of household lighting materials, building of a condominium for city hall employees, and providing the police with better equipment and new stations among others.
Recently, the city delivered on at least one of the promises – a socialized housing project that consisted of two five-story medium-rise buildings (MRB) in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel.
In 2014, a huge fire destroyed at least 500 homes in Lorega-San Miguel. Rama vowed to provide housing for at least 100 families who remained homeless.
“I would also like to thank Vice Mayor Dondon Hontiveros and the council for approving yesterday, the P1.2 billion supplemental budget,” Rama said.
The supplemental budget will be used to fund the upcoming major projects and fully pay the remaining balance of the SRP loan. – Rappler.com
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