Cebu is asking where was the P23 B spent?

Tomorrow is the birth anniversary of Philippine STAR Publisher and founder of the Philippine Daily Inquirer, the late Sir Max V. Soliven. He would have been 86 years old tomorrow. I recall that on Sept. 2, 2005, that’s exactly 10 years and a day ago, Manong Max Soliven came to Cebu for a few days and celebrated his birthday with his Cebuano friends at the City Sports Club. So on Sept. 2, I somehow coaxed him into getting a TV interview on my talkshow on Straight from the Sky. This was shown on Sept. 20, 2005 on the eve of the anniversary of Martial Law, which has become Cebu’s Press Freedom Week.

It’s nearly nine years now since he passed on to a better and eternal life and never for a day that I don’t miss Manong Max, who was my mentor and close confidant. We shared a lot of stories in the 20 years we’ve known each other. I wouldn’t be a journalist today if not for Max Soliven. At times when I miss him, I put on a DvD copy of his interview with me, as he was truly in his element a true Dean of Filipino columnists. Happy Birthday Sir Max. I know you are in heaven with our Lord Jesus Christ together with our Philippine STAR friends who have gone ahead of us… Ma’am Betty Go-Belmonte, Art Borjal, Louie Beltran, Tony Paño and Val Rodriguez.

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During the 888 News Forum held temporarily at the Mariner’s Court at the ALU-Vimcomtu compound last Tuesday, somehow when talks about the Liberal Party (LP) came out, some media personalities always refer to the last time Pres. Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III was in Cebu last Aug. 24 when the LP had their “Gathering of Friends” at the Cebu Coliseum. It was also that day when the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) held a project briefing for the President where DPWH Sec. Rogelio Singson told PNoy that Cebu Province got a total of P23 billion in infrastructure projects since 2010.

One Cebu media man then enumerated the infra projects from the P289 million rehabilitation of the Sen. Sergio Osmeña Blvd. to the P150-million widening of the Mactan Circumferential Road and that P386-million rehabilitation of roads in Northern Cebu and the other minor road projects in Mandaue City. All told, it adds up to less than a billion… not the P23 billion that P-Noy boasted when he was in Cebu. Back then he bragged that those of his critics who said that Cebu was neglected under the Aquino regime, should wear eyeglasses.

Well, one of the guests during the 888 News Forum was Mr. Rene Espina, Jr. a Liberal Party stalwart seeking the Congressional seat in Lapu-Lapu City and I asked him if he noticed the Circumferential Road that DPWH bragged to the President. Somehow the media went on a chorus agreeing that this was one project that no one has seen. The circumferential road in Mactan is a two-lane road yesterday and it was today. So where did the P150 million go? Now people here suspect that the money may have been stolen!

Allow me to reprint the first part of the Aug. 26 editorial of Sun Star Daily on this very issue. “If the President saw the need to offer spectacles so critics can see his administration’s projects in Cebu more clearly, it’s probably because these developments aren’t exactly spectacular. To be fair, only projects handled by the DPWH were presented last Monday, when President Benigno Aquino III found the time to answer complaints that Cebu has not received enough projects.

The DPWH said that from 2011 to 2015, Cebu’s infrastructure projects have amounted to nearly P23 billion. A fuller report, covering the projects of other major agencies, may help -- especially since these complaints are bound to resurface during the election campaign. The projects are not spectacular because few of them are novel. Even the theme that brings these projects together – the building of infrastructure to make tourism destinations easier to reach is a carryover from the Arroyo administration. It was one of the priorities outlined in the Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan for 2004 to 2010.”

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Today, SKAL International Makati will be holding its 25th year of giving the SKAL International Tourism Personality Awards at the New World Makati Hotel at 6 p.m. tonight. SKAL Awards chairman and PAL president Jaime Bautista already announced earlier, but to name a few, we have our very own Philippine STAR and Philippine Media Group president and chief executive officer Jaime Miguel Belmonte for Newspaper of the Year and Philippine STAR columnist Cito Beltran and SM Prime Holdings, Inc. CEO Hans Sy. SKAL International is a worldwide association of travel and tourism professionals promoting global tourism and friendship. So congratulations to the awardees of the 25th Tourism Personality Awards for the Year 2015!

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Email: vsbo[email protected] or [email protected]