Osmeña: Talisay folk to be issued ‘security passes’

CEBU CITY — While maintaining his refusal to reopen the south coastal road to the public, Mayor Tomas Osmeña announced that he will issue "security passes and clearances" to private individuals but on a case-to-case basis.

When he closed the road exactly a week ago, his rule was that only government vehicles would be allowed to pass through it. He said even Cebu first district Rep. Eduardo Gullas can enter the south coastal road as long as he is using a "vehicle with a red plate."

Osmeña, however, clarified that the issuance of these passes or clearances will not be a "mass thing" or that anybody could just apply for and obtain it.

He said there will be two types of passes, one for a particular person and another for the vehicle he will use.

Osmeña did not specify the number of security clearances and passes he will issue, saying it will depend on the number of applications and if such requests merit their issuance.

He said residents of Talisay City can also avail themselves of these clearances, but Cebu City constituents will be given top priority.

"But we are not accepting any endorsements from (Talisay City legal officer) Atty. (Aurora) Econg or worse Rep. Gullas," he said.

Osmeña, however, warned that holders of these passes and their companions are not allowed to stop and disembark anywhere along the south coastal road.

He said this is to avoid a situation where more policemen need to be deployed in the area for security reasons.

"What’s the requirement? My signature. Who would qualify? It’s not available to the general public. We will make certain considerations to the employees in the south working in the MEPZ (Mactan Export Processing Zone) so they don’t have to go through the bottleneck," he said.

Osmeña said it is not to his liking that the public be inconvenienced, admitting that the road’s closure causes traffic congestion in the downtown area.

He said he has to close it due to a "hostile neighbor." He was referring to Talisay City which has laid claim to 54 hectares of Cebu City’s 295-hectare south reclamation project, claiming they have encroached into Talisay’s jurisdiction.

"I would like to remind all those who are inconvenienced that in a very strange way I’m flattered because it shows that I brought a wonderful project to the south district of Cebu. Ironically, it shows that it is a project that the people like really well. And I would like to assure them that I’m not destroying the road," Osmeña said.

He added: "May I please remind them that if Tomas Osmeña didn’t become mayor, that bloody road would not have been there. It took me 10 years and thousands of man-hours of aggravation to get that project for Cebu."

Osmeña said Cebu City’s application for a special patent for the reclamation project "is very basic" that the justice department no longer needs an opinion from Malacañang on the matter.

While a 53.44-hectare portion of the 295-hectare project is inside Talisay City, he said it does not mean that the latter owns it, just like Cebu City does not own the Capitol just because it is located inside Cebu City.

Justice Secretary Raul Gonzales, in a phone interview, denied reports that some politicians have been pressuring him to issue the patent to Cebu City.

President Arroyo, meanwhile, has yet to sign the draft presidential proclamation endorsed by Environment and Natural Resources Secretary Mike Defensor authorizing the latter to issue the special patent to Cebu City for the entire reclamation project.

Meanwhile, lawyer Alfredo Sipalay has filed an injunction case against Osmeña, city administrator Francisco Fernandez and reclamation project manager Nigel Paul Villarete, asking the court to order to stop them "from further barricading and blocking the coastal road."

Villarete reportedly said he would not recommend the opening of the coastal road until its third segment, or the tunnel passing under Plaza Independencia, is completed. The tunnel will reportedly be finished in three years. — Freeman News Service