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DAVAO City Vice Mayor J. Melchor Quitain Jr. urged councilors to arrive on time for council sessions after the 42nd regular session was delayed due to a lack of quorum.
“It’s going to be December, it’s going to be 2025 and I don’t have to wait for your New Year’s resolution to be on time. It’s already too late you should have done in 2024 in January as your New Year’s Resolution,” Quitain said during the session held on Tuesday, November 12, at the Sanguniang Panlungsod.
Quitain addressed the late arrivals, emphasizing that the session was scheduled to start at 9:30 a.m. and that arriving an hour late was unacceptable.
He requested a commitment from the councilors to be punctual for future sessions, asking those in agreement to raise their hands.
“I want the commitment from everybody here because we are starting very late every session already,” he said.
He cautioned that in future sessions, if councilors arrive late, the session will be adjourned, and their names will be publicly announced as the reason for the adjournment.
Earlier, only 14 councilors were present at roll call, prompting Quitain to declare a recess and instruct the Sangguniang secretary to call absent councilors to the hall.
Eventually, more councilors arrived, achieving a quorum, and the session commenced.
The 20th City Council comprises eight councilors from each congressional district, a representative from the Association of Barangay Affairs, the Sangguniang Kabataan Federation President, and the Indigenous Peoples Mandatory Representative. RGP