The few minor problems in our city

In connection with the inaugural session of the city council at the onset of this month, the Honorable Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama, was quoted mentioning of our city as being second to none. If he did not know it, that was parroting the mayor-on-leave. Considering however, his obsession to be the anointed successor, he would not mind mimicking even the mayor’s language. The honorable vice mayor’s lip service disposition is easily understandable in the light that he simply brushed aside the stinging insults he received from his superior lately. But, while we love to believe that our city is indeed second to none, we just have to accept the fact that Cebu City is far from being number one. 

To be at the top of the list of cities is an ideal. Our leaders have to continue to aim for it. Better still, work to achieve this end tirelessly. And whatever it takes us morally and legally to do to help, we just have to contribute in this endeavor.

So that our leadership can plan in that direction, let us first enumerate a few of those undesirable views of our city that draw it away from the totem pole of being considered a premier metropolis. To make this task easy to follow, let us start with the obvious.

In the major streets, we see the tangled wires and cables belonging to and owned by many service providers. I really do not know why we seem to relish the term coined for them – spaghetti wires – when they are by no means as something acceptable as spaghetti. They are horrific sights tending to destroy the beautiful façade of newer buildings erected by the breed of Cebu’s imaginative architects and engineers. They, of course, serve an unexpected purpose - to hide the ugliness of buildings that have seen better days.

All of these wires have to be placed underground. There has to be a local ordinance to set this project in motion. It may appear like forcing companies to do so but common weal can be used to provide its legal foundation. Did we not suffer a long period of recovery after typhoon Ruping because our power lines were cut off? Public safety is another legal prop. With so many hanging lines, we have had our share of accidental electrocution in the past.

I imagine the huge expense it requires. For one, the construction of tunnels is very costly. So, the program has to be spread reasonably in a period of years that the companies affected still have profits to declare each year. Here, a continuing and regular consultation between government leaders and the private sector is necessary. In such meetings, they can thresh out ways to complement each other like defining common priorities and identify priority areas. I am certain that they can appreciate the beneficial aspect of this project.

Step unto many of our sidewalks and if your focus is distracted for a second, you are likely to stumble. Our city is one whose sidewalks are helplessly uneven. One stretch of say fifteen meters is higher in elevation than the next. Try walking on the sidewalk P. del Rosario Street fronting the University of San Carlos and you will know what I mean.

Again, we need imaginative leaders to address this concern. Walking on the sidewalks must be made both a safe and pleasant experience. Public safety, health and even aesthetics can, thus, be used to promulgate laws and regulations to ensure compliance. Of course, political will is a must.

Then, visit the esteros and rivers in our city. The water that flows on these supposed waterways is so dirty you can feel it even from a distance. Along their banks stand many houses of those who claim to belong to the city’s under privileged, oblivious to the dangers of rushing floodwaters.

This enumeration is but a checklist of the minor problems we have in our city. We are not even touching the graver ones, and there, too, are many. But, it is in solving first these minor issues that can help us meet the bigger ones with confidence. Who knows, our being a city second to none is more achievable with that kind of confidence?

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