Branch ‘unhappy’ with Labella’s handling of the COVID-19 crisis, regardless of the legislative department

Deputy Mayor of Cebu City, Michael Rama | CDN File Photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines: Apparently unhappy Cebu City Deputy Mayor Michael Rama began to criticize Mayor Edgar Labella’s handling of the 2019 coronavirus disease crisis that has already affected nearly 200 people in the city .

“I am losing patience,” Rama said in a Facebook post on Tuesday, April 21, 2020.

Rama said the crisis could have been better handled if Labella involved the legislative department she heads.

He said in an FB post that the mayor alone cannot handle city affairs, something that is remotely possible under the Local Government Code.

“Mangita silag kwarta, apil ta. Karon pag-abot aning mga policewa tay labot (When they need money, they include us. When it comes to politics, they ignore us). These are practical matters that really require our participation in aid of the legislation. Otherwise, we will have to declare that we are no longer anyone and let Cebu City be administered by executive order. So let’s see how the executive will move, “Rama said.

Labella has not commented on Rama’s criticism at the time of this writing.

Rama also questioned the recent decisions that Labella made in handling the COVID-19 crisis.

The transfer of COVID-19 patients from Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz to a nearby quarantine center, which was performed only Tuesday night or a week since more than 100 cases were reported in the densely populated community, was a movement. incorrect.

Rama said the transfer of virus-infected residents should have been done as soon as possible.

He said the failure of the city government to immediately transfer COVID-19 patients was a major contributor to the spread of the virus.

“Why did the city fail to get the infected out of Barangay Luz, endangering the rest of the community?”

Rama said delays in establishing quarantine facilities when the city had enough time to do so before the outbreak began is a manifestation of the city’s lack of preparedness.

The quarantine facility that was established in Block 27 in the Northern Recovery Area, for example, has been left unfinished.

As early as January, members of the City Council had already requested that the Cebu City Council executive department begin its preparations for COVID-19. They also called then for the implementation of social distancing and home stay policies, but Labella focused their attention elsewhere, he said.

Rama also questioned the at least seven executive orders that Labella has signed since March. He said that these contradict each other. The vice mayor especially mentioned the city’s number coding and name coding schemes.

While the city’s number coding scheme prohibits private vehicles from driving through city streets on Sundays, the name coding scheme allows people with last names starting with V, X, W, and Z to visit the Complex of the Public Carbon Market the same day.

Rama said the executive department is making it difficult for these people to visit the market due to a lack of private transportation on Sundays. The use of public transportation was also prohibited since the start of March 28 of the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the city of Cebu.

The deputy mayor said EO’s continued release without prior consultation with the city’s legislature is also an insult and blatant disregard for its existence.

Kauban man kaha ta tanan, ngano di man ta magsturya. Ngano said the executive has a legislative power. Perhaps the mayor is unaware of Ana, insult kana nato sa Sangguniang Panglungsod, ”said Rama.

(If we’re in this government together, why don’t we talk? Why does the executive formulate his own policies when the legislature exists? Maybe the mayor doesn’t know, but what he’s doing is insulting the Sangguniang Panglungsod.)

With the way things are going, Rama said it seems necessary to remind Labella that passing the legislation is a job that should be left to the City Council. / dcb

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