CEBU CITY — A day after the passing of City Mayor Edgardo Labella, Vice Mayor Michael Rama took his oath as the new chief executive of this city.
Shortly after Rama’s oath-taking, City Councilor Donaldo “Dondon” Hontiveros was also sworn in as the new Vice Mayor.
Rama took his oath on Saturday morning, Nov. 20, before Court of Appeals Justice Gabriel Ingles. The new city mayor then officiated the oath of Hontiveros.
Filling the void vacated by Hontiveros is former City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera.
The change in leadership at the City Hall came after Labella died in a hospital due to septic shock secondary to pneumonia last Friday dawn.
“This is not the way I wished to take the reign of the city government. This has to happen, me and Dondon, to succeed by operation of law,” Rama said.
Rama is running for mayor next year’s elections. He is a former two-term mayor.
As he replaced Labella, Rama said no major changes will be in his administration.
“We will continue the programs and projects started by mayor Labella,” he said.
Hontiveros, who got the most votes among the winning councilors in the last elections, said his rise as the second highest ranking official in the city was something that he did not expect.
“This is not what we want to happen but of course there is a law that we have to follow. Again never have I imagined that I will become a Vice Mayor,” Hontiveros told reporters.
With the help of his colleagues, Hontiveros believed that “I would think I will be in the right place.”