Cebu City councilor questions armored car for city mayor

While the Cebu City Council passed a resolution for the service vehicle procurement for the city mayor, South District City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco called it " extravagant."

Cuenco told the media that the necessity for the Cebu City Government to spend P10 million on the bullet-proof and bomb-proof service utility request of Mayor Michael Rama was deemed extravagant.

He insisted that only high-ranking officials such as the President, Vice President, Senate President, Speaker of the House of Representatives, and the Supreme Court Chief Justice are permitted to acquire high-end vehicles with protective accessories.

Cuenco cited former Chief Justice Maria Lourdes Sereno's case, who was charged with corruption, and ousted for a total of P18 million in public funds, which included the purchase of a brand-new Toyota Land Cruiser.

City Administrator Collin Rosell said the acquisition of the vehicle is for the city to have an appropriate service vehicle when the mayor visits mountain barangays and to ensure the security of the mayor, whether there are reported death threats or not.

Former Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmena said Rama is not worth 10 million pesos.

Osmena's legal counsel, lawyer Amando Virgil Ligutan, said, "the City's plan to procure such a vehicle is a bit extravagant as he stressed, how could the city justify it to the residents, who are struggling daily to make ends meet."

Rosell in a letter dated 15 November 2023 addressed to City Councilor Noel Wenceslao, the budget and finance committee chairman, requested the passage of a resolution for the procurement of one service vehicle for the local chief executive valued at 10,032,931, which will be drawn from 2023 Motor Vehicle Outlay funds.

Wenceslao told the media that a mayor of a highly urbanized city is permitted to procure a vehicle specifically intended for security reasons.

He added that Rama had been without an appropriate vehicle for a long time, and is using either his personal or borrowed land cruiser.

Rama really wants the P10-million bullet-proofed, bomb-proofed Land Cruiser purchased, saying it is not just for him but also for the future chief executives of the city.

"And I should know this because I am the president of the League of Cities of the Philippines, been a president of the Vice Mayor's League of the Philippines, and we have discussed this… regarding the safety of mayors in the entire country," the mayor said

He added the purchase of a bulletproof car has always been a desire of the country's mayors in their discussions because of past ambush incidents against colleagues.

In a letter dated 6 October 2023 addressed to Department of Interior and Local Government-7 Director Leocadio Trovela, Rama said that aside from P6,582,931 for a brand new SUV, he also wants P3,450,000 for bullet-proofing and bomb-proofing of the vehicle.