After months of heated debate in the Cebu City Council and extensive media coverage, Mayor Nestor Archival Sr. has officially issued an executive order to establish the controversial "Mayor of the Night" program. The move comes despite repeated warnings from Kusug councilor, Pastor "Jun" Alcover Jr., about potential legal and practical issues.
What EO 27 Creates: A 24/7 Service Center
Executive Order No. 27 establishes the "Cebu City Government 24/7 Service (Mayor of the Night)," a one-stop shop designed to assist residents and BPO workers who struggle to access government services during standard daytime hours. The center will host various city offices that handle payments, issue permits and licenses, and provide health and civil registry services. This includes documents like cedulas, business applications, health cards, and birth or death certificates.
National agencies such as the SSS, Pag-ibig, LTO, Philippine Statistics Authority, and the police have also been invited to participate, expanding the center's reach and utility for the public.
Vice Mayor's Role: Overseer, Not a Second Mayor
A key point of contention was addressed in Section 6 of the EO. Vice Mayor Tomas Osmeña is designated to oversee the program's implementation, but he will operate "under the control and authority of the mayor." His role is defined as a coordinator who will work with relevant offices to ensure efficiency and compliance.
This provision directly confronts earlier fears, voiced by Councilor Alcover, that the city would effectively have two mayors—one for the day and another for the night, with the Vice Mayor taking over when Mayor Archival is asleep. The EO's language aims to prevent such a scenario by clearly subordinating the Vice Mayor's actions to the Mayor's authority.
Political Precedent and Lingering Controversy
The concept of delegating mayoral functions is not new in Cebu City. Then-Mayor Tomas Osmeña himself appointed several councilors as "deputy mayors" during his 2016-2019 term, granting them blanket authority to review department decisions in specific areas like health and education. The legal justification then, as now, was that these deputies acted under the mayor's control.
However, critics like Councilor Alcover point out a crucial difference: the current program uses the provocative title "Mayor of the Night," which they argue fuels suspicion of a power grab, unlike the more neutral "deputy mayor" title used previously. They also question the program's financial viability and necessity, citing a lack of verified statistics on the demand for nighttime government services.
A Pilot Project with a Political Future
Mayor Archival, an engineer and former council critic, has framed the initiative as a "pilot" project that will run for a period not exceeding the current elected officials' three-year term. This approach allows Vice Mayor Osmeña to see his campaign promise realized while providing a built-in mechanism to evaluate the program's effectiveness and cost.
Whether the "Mayor of the Night" becomes a national model for round-the-clock public service or is dismissed as a costly political gimmick, as its detractors fear, now rests on the results of this high-stakes pilot program in Cebu City.
