CBC urges LGUs to craft sound development plans

The Cebu Business Club (CBC) is calling on the Local Government Units in Cebu to sign a commitment to employ a sound master plan for development.

As soon as the CBC gets the incorporation papers for the creation of the Cebu Leads Foundation Inc., which is now pending at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the group will start an aggressive campaign to urge LGU executives across the Cebu province to join the foundation and eventually drive change.

In a press conference, CBC president Dondi Joseph said that CLFI in coordination with several multi-sectoral groups, different clubs, specifically the Institute for Solidarity in Asia and Institute for Good Governance, will strongly push for a fast development strategy as it will help LGUs in implementing developmental projects that will foster growth in their respective cities or towns.

"We would like to work with the LGUs. The most successful LGUs are the ones attracting investments and tourism," Joseph said.

CLFI is one of the flagship projects of the newly revived CBC. The CLFI, which is described as the "think-tank" of the private sector led developmental advocacy that will work closely together with LGU executives and Cebuano lawmakers.

CLFI has 35 businessmen members, 11 of whom are incorporators. The list included highly respected businessmen and business leaders in Cebu, such as Augusto Go, Marissa Fernan, and Manny Osmeña, among others.

According to Joseph, once the foundation will be fully incorporated and have its organizational framework in place, the group will start introducing the "Cebu Strategy Roadmap" to all 57 LGUs in the Cebu province.

 Also, CLFI will have to tap the six Cebuano Congressmen to support in policy making of the group that will soon be formulated with the help of Jesus Estanislao's Institute for Solidarity in Asia, among other institutions.

"We will encourage LGUs to develop and create short-term and long term strategic plans that are transparent," Joseph said.

Ideally, strategic planning blueprint should go beyond whoever is sitting as LGU leader/mayor/government.

Joseph said the group will also influence the change of political culture, which he described as one of the biggest challenges. "That is why we are also talking and convincing emerging political leaders in injecting the change of political culture," Joseph said that could pave the way for good governance, and transparency of the government projects, and initiatives.

As early as now, Joseph said the group already had initial talks with different international funding agencies, such as Canadian International Development Cooperation (CIDA), Dutch government's funding agency, among others to support the CLFI projects.

CLFI's primary objective is to make Cebu as the leader in change, and development initiatives in the Philippines.

"We are going to be critical on how politics is being run in this country. Business can drive change, if only government can contribute to the process," Joseph said.