Mike Rama
Michael Lopez Rama is a Filipino politician and lawyer who served as the 26th Mayor of Cebu City from 2021 to 2024, and previously from 2010 to 2016. He also previously served as the 16th Vice Mayor and City Councilor from the 2nd District.
In October 2024, the Ombudsman dismissed Rama as mayor and permanently disqualified him from public office after finding him guilty of nepotism and grave misconduct. Rama was dismissed and permanently disqualified a second time on January 3, 2025 due to illegally awarding garbage collection contracts without going through the legally-required bidding processes.
Rama is the father of Cebu City Councilor Mikel Rama and the uncle of Cebu City South District Rep. Eduardo Rama Jr.
Early life and career
Michael Lopez Rama was born on October 28, 1954 to Fernando Genson Rama and Natividad Lopez Rama. He had 12 siblings, including former Agusan Del Norte Governor and Congressman Eduardo Rama Sr., who he grew up with in the Rama Compound in Barangay Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City.Rama graduated class valedictorian from Basak Elementary School in Basak San Nicolas, Cebu City. He attended the University of Southern Philippines and earned a pre-med degree from Velez College. He took graduate studies in law at San Beda College in Manila, passing the bar exam in 1983.
Before his entry into politics, Rama also worked as a human resource manager for the Cebu Oxygen and Acetylene Company.
Political career
Cebu City Councilor (1992–2001)
Rama began his political career in 1992 when he ran for office as City Councilor from Cebu City's 2nd District as a member of Mayor Tomas Osmeña's Bando Osmeña – Pundok Kauswagan, succeeding his uncle, veteran city councilor Clemente "Cle" G. Rama.Rama served for three terms until 2001, during which he was also appointed chairman of the Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center II Advisory Council. During his third term, Rama was elected National President of the Philippine Councilors League.
Vice Mayor (2001–2010)
After incumbent Mayor Alvin Garcia bolted BOPK to form his own political party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo, Rama was tapped by former Mayor Tomas Osmeña as his running mate and vice mayoral candidate for the 2001 Cebu City local elections. The tandem won both positions, with Rama defeating KUSUG's bet, re-electionist Vice Mayor Renato Osmeña.Rama served three terms as Vice Mayor, winning once again in 2004 and 2007, alongside Osmeña as Mayor. In 2007, during his third term as vice mayor, Rama was elected National President of the Vice Mayors' League of the Philippines. He was also appointed chairman of several government and non-government agencies, including the city's Zoning Board, Tourism Commission, Police Coordinating and Advisory Council, and People’s Law Enforcement Board.
Tensions brewed between Rama and Osmeña, which included Rama's criticism of Osmeña's handling of the 93-1 land swap deal between the city and the Province of Cebu and Rama allegedly being "too friendly" with Osmeña's political nemesis Cebu Governor Gwen Garcia while serving as acting mayor during Osmeña's trips to the United States for cancer treatment.
2010 endorsement controversy
With both Osmeña and Rama both being term-limited, Rama was BOPK's heir apparent as Mayor for the 2010 elections, with Osmeña now running for congressman in the South District. However, cracks began appearing in the relationship between the two; in 2009, Osmeña accused Rama of being a "drug lord protector" after the latter allegedly meddled with a drug bust, which he later retracted.BOPK-aligned barangay captains also issued a manifesto contesting Osmeña's choice of Rama as BOPK's 2010 mayoral bet, asking Osmeña to instead endorse his sister, Georgia Osmeña, who was also running for mayor. The call was backed by former senator Sonny Osmeña, fellow mayoral candidate and Tomas's estranged cousin, and by KUSUG councilor candidate Raymond Alvin Garcia, who Rama defeated in the 2007 vice mayoral race. Despite the controversy and past tensions, Tomas Osmeña and BOPK stood by Rama.
Rama ran his first mayoral campaign on the slogan "Bayanihan, Barangayan, Boluntarismo" . He won the 2010 elections with 210,520 votes over former mayor Alvin Garcia's 120,327 votes to become the 26th Mayor of Cebu City, with his running mate Councilor Joy Young succeeding him as vice mayor.
Mayor (2010–2016)
As mayor, Rama also served as head of several organizations, including the Sinulog Foundation, Inc., Cultural and Historical Affairs Commission, Area Vocational Rehabilitation Center 11 Advisory Council, Coastline Management Board, and the Adopt a Police Station Project. He was also President of the Young Lawyers Association of Cebu and Vice President of the Philippine Association on Voluntary Arbitration.Rama's first term was marked by a growing political rift with then-Congressman Osmeña over various issues, similar to the previous fallout between Osmeña and former Vice Mayor Garcia. Notable incidents included Rama conducting "loyalty checks" on Osmeña appointees, sidelining BOPK officials in favor of the opposition KUSUG during the mass oathtaking of newly-elected Sangguniang Kabataan officials, and legal cases filed against Rama by BOPK allies over his allegedly indiscriminate demolition of houses along Mahiga Creek.
On June 2, 2011, Rama announced his departure from BOPK, with which he was affiliated for 13 years, while remaining a member of its national affiliate, the Liberal Party. Osmeña responded that BOPK members had become dissatisfied with Rama's way of running the city government.
In 2012, Osmeña proposed to fund two new flyovers using PHP 400 million in congressional funding that he was provided as a Department of Public Works and Highways allocation for the city's south district, in addition to P75 million he received from the Priority Development Assistance Fund. Rama opposed the proposal, stating in a September 4, 2012 letter to President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III that flyovers were "not the ultimate solution to the traffic congestion" and that nearby businesses would be adversely affected, advocating instead for road widening and opening alternative routes. Osmeña attempted to reallocate the funding to road widening projects in the south district, which was blocked once again by Rama. Eventually, Osmeña redirected the funds to Cebu 1st district Rep. Eduardo "Eddie" Gullas, to be used on road widening projects from Carcar to Sibonga, despite a years-long dispute between the two stemming from then-Talisay City Mayor Gullas' claims over 50 hectares of the South Road Properties.
Rama subsequently formed his own political party, Team Rama, together with other BOPK defectors, to challenge Osmeña in the 2013 elections. With incumbent Councilor Edgardo Labella as his running-mate and vice mayoral candidate, Team Rama filed their certificates of candidacy with the COMELEC on October 5, 2012, now affiliated with the national opposition party United Nationalist Alliance led by Vice President Jejomar Binay. The Rama-Labella tandem defeated Osmeña's mayoral comeback bid and unseated incumbent Vice Mayor Young, with Rama winning 217,448 votes to Osmeña's 211,072 votes, breaking BOPK's long-held electoral dominance.
Second term (2013–2016)
Rama's political rivalry with Osmeña continued throughout his second term. In 2014, Osmeña criticized Rama for taking on roles outside the typical duties of a mayor, such as acting as firefighter, police officer, and disaster reporter. In 2015, Osmeña again criticized Rama regarding the SRP—a landmark project by Osmeña in the 1990s—accusing Rama of mismanaging government funds by selling valuable SRP lots for immediate funds instead of allowing the city to benefit from their long-term revenue. Osmeña also highlighted what he described as the depletion of city funds under Rama, contrasting it with the surplus of PHP 2.4 billion he left at the end of his term in 2010.In November 2015, Osmeña sued Rama and 19 other city officials and employees before the Ombudsman for graft and procurement violations over the reconstruction of Carbon Market Unit 2. Osmeña alleged collusion between officials and bidders to award the PHP 167 million project to Geety Realty and Development Corp., which was purportedly unqualified to handle government projects exceeding PHP 100 million. The complaint also claimed that the city was billed before the project's commencement, in violation of the Local Government Code's prohibition on advance payments, and that GRDC falsified tax permits. On July 30, 2018, the Office of the Ombudsman resolved to file cases against Rama and seven others; however, this was subsequently reversed by Ombudsman Samuel Martires, who dismissed the case for lack of merit on November 8, 2021.
Rama sought a third and final consecutive term in the 2016 elections, filing his certificate of candidacy with his running mate Labella and other Team Rama's candidates on October 16, 2015. While Rama's allies won a majority of city council seats and Labella secured a second term as vice mayor, Rama lost the mayoral race to Osmeña by 33,894 votes. Rama refused to accept his loss, alleging electoral fraud and filing an election protest against Osmeña on May 22. The COMELEC granted a manual recount of 20 percent of the votes, which failed to overturn the results.
Hiatus from office (2016–2019)
On August 6, 2016, President Rodrigo Duterte named Rama a protector of drug lords. Duterte repeated the accusation in 2017. Rama denied the allegations on several occasions, stating that Duterte had been misinformed. Rama was later removed from Duterte’s narco-list in 2019.A majority of Team Rama's officials switched political parties from UNA to PDP-Laban, the new ruling party led by Duterte, on August 27, 2016. Rama was not included in the induction of new members due to his then-inclusion on Duterte's narco-list, with then-House Speaker and PDP-Laban Secretary General Pantaleon Alvarez commenting that "the crime of one not the fault all."
The rivalry between Rama and Osmeña persisted, with Osmeña referring to Team Rama—later renamed Barug Team Rama—as "Team Suyop" and "Team Babag". In response, Barug city councilor Joy Pesquera filed a cyber-libel case against Osmeña over the "Team Suyop" label on May 13, 2018.
In November 2017, Team Rama rebranded as "Barug PDP-Laban" ahead of the 2019 elections. Party members announced the new name publicly but acknowledged the renaming occurred without Rama’s approval, as he was still excluded from PDP-Laban. Rama questioned the decision.
On October 17, 2018, Barug members filed their candidacies for the 2019 elections. Vice Mayor Edgardo Labella, term-limited in his position, ran for mayor, while Rama ran for vice mayor. Barug won the May 13 elections decisively, with Labella unseating Osmeña, Rama returning as vice mayor for a fourth term, and Barug securing a council majority with nine of sixteen seats. Observers attributed Barug’s electoral success partly to a high level of involvement by President Duterte in favor of Barug and Labella, which included sustained attacks on Osmeña and BOPK. The winning candidates were proclaimed over two-day period following election night, with the delay due to technical issues.