All's not well that doesn't end well!

For tonight's talkshow on Straight from the Sky, we discuss the most controversial topic that the whole world today is discussing these days... about the hit selling book and now a movie, The Da Vinci Code. Of course, by now many people have understood what the whole brouhaha is all about, especially with the fact that Dan Brown's effort to destroy the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ through his book resulted in the publication of five other books and Television documentaries debunking or even exposing his lies.

In fact, I've seen many television programs specifically made to expose the heresy being peddled by Dan Brown like "The Da Vinci Code Deception" shown at the Cebu Catholic Television Network (CCTN) and many other similar programs shown worldwide at the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) that strengthens our Christian faith... that throughout the 2,000 year-old history of the Catholic Church, they have recorded the works of Gnostics or people like Dan Brown who probably is in the employ of the Devil himself!

While the City of Manila has banned this movie... Cebu City has not. For me, watching this movie is a personal test to Christian maturity, hence I would rather allow someone with little faith to see the movie and let them find out for themselves whether this fiction is a reality? Of course, when they read the Bible, they would realize where the whole truth really could be found.

One lay organization whose reputation that the movie seeks to besmirch is the Opus Dei... but even that can be explained. Hence for tonight, we asked our dear friend, Fr. Roy Cimagala, the Cebu Archdiocesan Mass Media Awardee (CAMMA) for Best Columnist in the year 2005 who writes a regular column in The Freeman and a member of Opus Dei to discuss with me the controversy swirling around the Da Vinci Code. So watch this very interestingly discussion tonight on SkyCable's channel 15 at 8:00 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturdays on the same time and channel.

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Should I say, all's well that end's well on the controversial plan to put a flyover along Juan Luna Ave. and Cardinal Rosales Ave, now that this project has been put off for next year? I don't think so! In my book, the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) have only delayed this controversy, which I guarantee you will once more explode in our local dailies when construction will once more commence, simply because no one has addressed the real issues surrounding this controversy.

The first issue that the DPWH and my good friend Rep. Raul del Mar should first address is one of necessity! With the government's meager or scarce resources, where should we put a flyover, which can benefit the entire community? When we were running things at the Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (CITOM), we identified the intersection that a Flyover is needed the most... and that's the corner of M.J. Cuenco and Gen. Maxilom (Mango Ave.) and it gets my gall that up to this time, the DPWH has no such plans in that area where traffic during rush hour is intolerable.

Five years ago, traffic on the Foodland Junction, the road, which connects Cebu City to Mandaue City and passes through Cebu City's most luxurious subdivisions, was already bad. Well, today, I would call it the worse intersection next to the M.J. Cuenco-Mango Ave. intersection. But no, DPWH has no such plans for that corner simply because, they do not talk to the traffic mangers in CITOM... who knows where bad traffic can be found.

Granted that the DPWH has plans for these intersections, therefore I really want to know what their priority is? In my book, the intersection that they have planned to put a flyover in J. Luna and Cardinal Rosales is of low-priority and I'm sure that the CITOM Board also shares my sentiment. So the question remaining is... Why does DPWH insist on putting that flyover that's very low in priority and worse, where there's so much opposition?

Being a development-oriented person, I am usually cooperative with any infrastructure projects done in Cebu... truth to this, I was even tasked to be Road Right of Way Chairman by the Regional Development Council (RDC-7) when the Metro Cebu Development Projects (MCDP) were on-going. Hence, after all those years, we have developed a keen understanding of the demography of motorists in Cebu City. But what got my gall was when the DPWH insisted that the flyover they were going to construct was part of the ASEAN Summit. That to me was a blatant lie, because they knew that that project could never be finished in time for the ASEAN Summit.

If you ask me, what the DPWH and my good friend Rep. Raul del Mar ought to do is listen to their Cebuano constituents and I'm willing to bet that the majority of motorists would applaud them if they constructed a flyover either in M. J. Cuenco-Mango Ave. or at the Foodland intersection. We are all taxpayers here and we demand that our voices be heard. What happened to that dialogue last Friday merely postponed this debate to next year..., which in the end we can say... All's not well that doesn't end well!

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