Id like to thank Cebu City Mayor Michael Lopez Rama for answering - TopicsExpress

Id like to thank Cebu City Mayor Michael Lopez Rama for answering my call at 2:30 AM this morning. My apologies for disturbing your sleep. Ive long since protested the Citys no overnight parking ordinance because CITOMs implementation is arbitrary. They clamp on your vehicle even when parked in a designated parking area assuming youre there to park overnight. But we werent parking overnight, we (with newspaper editor friends Nathalie Adele Morales Tomada, Debbie Duraliza, Joeberth M. Ocao) were at Orange Brutus in Fuente, a known 24/7 area. So I ask, where the hell do I park in all of Cebu City if not in a pay parking area? Where does the city expect people to park when they patronize establishments that are open either 24/7 or until the wee hours if not in designated pay parking areas? May I remind the brilliant author of this stupid ordinance - whoever he or she is, this thinking member of the Cebu City Council - that Cebu has become a 24-hour city, a city that never sleeps, thanks in large part to the call centers/ BPO sector and the allied industries its brought to life, and to night owl taxpayers like me who shun the light of the sun! And these industries, establishments, from restaurants to internet cafes to spas, pay taxes to the city. How can the city optimize tax collection when these establishments lose so much business because consumers are discouraged to go out for fear of being clamped? Sus. More on this in my column this Saturday. For now, Id like to thank Mayor Rama for hearing me out, for waking up and picking up his cellphone at 2:30 AM to answer the call from an angry taxpayer. I couldnt wait till morning because the idiocy and harrassment have been taking place for years, and Ive just had it, couldnt take more bullying from the CITOM. Im so glad our mayor isnt some arrogant prick who lords it over everyone.