The Cebu City Council dropped a proposal to refer a heated exchange between Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Councilor Joel Garganera to the DILG, referring it instead to its committee on house rules and oversight.
Councilor Sisinio “Bebs” Andales objected to the DILG referral, citing Section 50 of Republic Act 7160 and internal council rules requiring local legislative bodies to settle parliamentary conduct issues internally first.
The Oct. 13 dispute occurred during Garganera’s privilege speech on the city's garbage problem, when Osmeña interrupted him after Garganera questioned the status of a promised waste management proposal.
THE Cebu City Council has dropped a proposal to bring the heated exchange between Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña and Councilor Joel Garganera before the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG), sending the matter instead to one of its own committees.
The change came after Councilor Sisinio “Bebs” Andales objected, saying alleged breaches of parliamentary rules should be settled through the council’s internal mechanisms before an outside agency is asked to step in.
Councilors then approved an amended motion by Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover Jr. referring the incident to the committee on house rules and oversight.
Council’s own rules
Andales said elevating the incident to the DILG would be premature because the council has its own rules on members’ conduct and on handling disorderly behavior during sessions.
He cited Section 50 of Republic Act 7160, or the Local Government Code of 1991, which requires local legislative councils to adopt their own rules of procedure, including provisions on parliamentary conduct and the discipline of disorderly members.
He also pointed to Article 11 of the City Council’s internal rules. The provision covers decorum, including the presiding officer’s duty to maintain order and the avoidance of improper language during debates.
Under these provisions, Andales said, the council holds primary responsibility for dealing with alleged violations by its members.
He questioned the legal basis for a DILG referral, saying the council’s rules do not specifically require one when a member is accused of disorderly or unparliamentary conduct. Andales asked Alcover to withdraw the proposal and later declared his abstention on the resolution before deliberations continued.
Motion reconsidered
Councilor Phillip Zafra suggested that Andales’ objections be taken up through a motion for reconsideration, which led the council to revisit the proposed referral.
Zafra agreed the matter should first be handled within the council, saying heated arguments can happen during legislative proceedings. He proposed sending the issue to an appropriate standing committee that could look into the incident and help settle it.
Councilor Alvin Arcilla questioned the need to involve another agency, saying the council has the authority under its internal rules to deal with concerns involving its own members.
Osmeña, too, objected to the DILG proposal during the discussion. It was up to the council, he said, to decide whether it wanted an outside agency to review the incident.
After a brief suspension that allowed members to confer, Alcover amended his motion to refer the resolution to the committee on house rules and oversight. The motion was seconded and carried without objection.
Andales pointed out during the deliberations that Garganera had not filed a formal complaint over the incident.
Speech about garbage
The dispute broke out during the council’s Oct. 13 regular session, while Garganera was delivering a privilege speech on Cebu City’s garbage problem.
Garganera asked about the status of a promised waste management solution. He recalled that Osmeña had asked the council on May 26 for 60 days to prepare a plan and said 137 days had since passed without the proposal being presented to the body.
Osmeña said he had already submitted his proposal and that its implementation was up to Mayor Nestor Archival.
Tempers rose when Osmeña interrupted Garganera, who objected to being cut off in the middle of his speech.
Processing project
The exchange drew attention to the proposed garbage-processing project, including questions about the cost and equipment covered by a proposal from Suki Trading Corp.
Under the amended resolution, the committee, not the DILG, will review the incident. The referral by itself is not a finding that either official violated the council’s rules. / CAV