EDITORIAL – You have to give it to Radaza

One local newspaper the other day carried a story about an ambitious plan of the city of Lapu-Lapu to become another Silicon Valley. A photo accompanying that story showed Mayor Arturo Radaza with the 20 top taxpayers in the city.

You have to give it to Radaza. He is good. If you have been following his story, you cannot miss the jab. And it was a jab that landed. Here was the “computer issue” given a new perspective, in an atmosphere wherein he basked in the “warmest of business relations.”

The newspaper report said Radaza envisions a massive computer literacy program intended to produce a new generation of “computer savvy Oponganons” who will not only end up in call centers but become “brillant researchers, engineers, scientists and venture capitalists.”

The report went on that the mayor envisions this "human infrastructure" to serve as the foundation for a Silicon Valley he sees rising at a Mactan North Reclamation and Development Project. If you have really been following his story, this is a jab in a different direction.

To those who have not followed the story, these initiatives of the mayor are mired in controversy. A businessman who hates him says he overpriced his computers. And his reclamation reportedly lacks Regional Development Council approval.

But, take it or leave it, the accounting Radaza gave for the computers was by far more detailed than the blanket accusation of his foes. And testimonials and actual investment plans of some of the biggest names in Philippine business speak for themselves in favor of the mayor.

At this stage, the bigger challenge perhaps of Radaza is how to hurdle the problem that has complicated his reclamation plans. But the optimists hope that because those involved are politicians, a political solution will eventually sort out what kinks now stand in the way.

Cleared of the controversies hounding these initiatives, it becomes easier to accept the city of Lapu-Lapu as one of the best cities in the country to do business in, as borne out in surveys conducted by such credible entities as the World Bank and Asian Institute of Management.

Of the nine cities in Cebu right now, Lapu-Lapu is way out there in initiatives that, despite the controversies attending them, are hard to ignore or reject. For these controversies, Radaza will have to answer personally. Other than that, the city never had it so good.