People who visited the mayor’s office in Cebu City today were shocked to discover that all furniture and fixtures have been removed by the team of outgoing mayor Tomas “Tommy” Osmeña.
The tiles, ceilings, glass dividers, and furniture have all been taken out. Even the tiles in the washroom were removed and the concrete was left bare.
Osmeña’s term is ending on Sunday, June 30. He lost his re-election bid against incoming Mayor Edgar Labella, who was backed by President Rodrigo Duterte. Labella was Osmeña’s former vice mayor, and the campaign period was marked by much animosity between the two.
In a phone interview with Coconuts Manila, Osmeña said he had everything removed because he allegedly paid for all of them with his own money. He said that the city council, which was then mostly composed of opposition politicians, rejected his request for a PHP2 million (US$39,018) budget to renovate the mayor’s office in 2001.
“Why would they benefit from my money? Let them (Labella) appropriate [the budget] for themselves,” Osmeña said. “They want to take over that [office], they should spend on the building. It’s an unusual hardship for a mayor to spend his own money [fixing his office].”
Osmeña alleged that the office was bare in 2001.
“It had no ceilings, no partition, it had nothing,” he said. “Why would I leave it for them? Why would I donate it to the city government?”
But according to Osmeña, he didn’t actually take everything from the room. Apparently, the air conditioning units and refrigerator are still there. He also said that it was only the mayor’s office that he stripped bare and not the other offices in city hall.
Because of what he did, Labella’s camp is reportedly planning to file charges against Osmeña, according to CNN Philippines.
Osmeña said he has no problems with that.
“It’s good. What for? For stealing my own things? Go ahead. They take things for granted. They’re very mean. I had to spend on [the office] myself. Now that I’m no longer mayor, [I’ll remove them],” he said.
Osmeña was Cebu City mayor for more than 30 years, from 1987 to 1995, 2001 to 2010, and 2016 to 2019. His family is considered one of the most prominent political clans in the Philippines. His father and brother were former senators, while his grandfather Sergio Osmeña served as the fourth president of the Philippines.
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