Dismissed mayor of Cebu City, Michael Rama, reported back at the Cebu City Hall on Monday, December 2, 2024. Tension arose between the authorities and Rama’s supporters when his service vehicle parked in front of the City Hall Executive Building was clamped.

Incumbent Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia shook Rama’s hands. Rama attended the flag-raising ceremony.

The two stood side by side during the ceremony with their respective city administrators.

However when Garcia acknowledged him as “former mayor,” Rama left the venue.

Rama carried out an outdoor press conference in front of the City Hall where he insisted that he remains the elected mayor of Cebu City and that he is back in office after a six-month preventive suspension ordered by the Ombudsman.

He was with his son, Atty. Mikel Rama.

Later, he went inside the City Hall and tried to enter the Office of the City Mayor but failed because the area has been padlocked. He decided to leave the building.

However, when he went back to his service vehicle at the mayor’s designated parking area, he was startled upon learning that it was clamped.

The situation stirred emotions in Rama and among his supporters. He pointed at the signage, and argued that he has been using the area, as mayor, for his parking space.

Members of the Civil Disturbance Management of the Cebu City Police Office were deployed around the City Hall.

Rama took another vehicle and left the area.

Meanwhile, Garcia said that he has not ordered the clamping of Rama’s service vehicle. But he said that the parking space is apparently for the current mayor, and not for a former mayor.

Garcia also pointed out that the Office of the City Mayor has been padlocked because of an extant threat, beginning with the entry of Atty. Collin Rosell, former city administrator, on November 8, 2024 that led to a commotion.

Garcia assured that the office will be reopened based on assessment of the authorities.

He said he has acknowledged Rama as a colleague, but emphasized the “rule of law" in dealing with current circumstances. 

In a ruling dated September 25, 2024, the Ombudsman has meted Rama the “penalty of dismissal from the service which shall carry with it cancellation of eligibility, forfeiture of retirement benefits except for accrued leave credits, and perpetual disqualification for reemployment in the government service” for nepotism and grave misconduct.

Following the order, Garcia was sworn in as a full-fledged mayor of Cebu City on October 9, 2024 before Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) 7 Director Leocadio Trovela.