EDITORIAL - An MOU lacking in caveat

Cebu City has been declared a “Local Integrated Retirement Area,” whatever that means, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between outgoing Mayor Tomas Osmeña and officials of the Philippine Retirement Authority, a heretofore unknown entity.

However one looks at it, it is a pact of vague provisions entered into by signatories who, on the one hand will no longer be around soon to implement them, and, on the other, have no control over circumstances that affect real post-retirement choices.

Cebu City is the second most important city in the Philippines. Its history forms the backbone of the entire history of the country. Its culture is far richer than many would acknowledge. It is the hub of many things — education, commerce, etc.

But it has its seedy side too, sprung in large part by leadership priorities directed toward self-promotion and self-interest rather than real development of God-given assets that make Cebu a great place to do anything in, and its people great partners to do anything with.

And so there is widespread neglect and absence of authority that is palpable in the insecurity of the city from crime, inability to manage its traffic, lack of freedom from slums, perennial threat from floods, and continuing submission to preventable diseases.

Cavernous malls and spas and gyms mushrooming by the score do not a great liveable city make. You have to have a city that genuinely respects seniors when they buy medicine, not reduce them to a number on some card that some store clerk can scold anytime.

To be a great city for retirement, you need to have ramps for the handicapped built to specifications, not just to comply with building permits. You need to be assured of the quality of water and the availability of power, two needs retirees cannot do without.

And security in their persons must be assured for the retirees or they will just fall prey to “inside jobs” and other sickening modus operandi that particularly target the defenseless and the foreign-looking aged. But can law enforcement even be trusted?

There is a side to Cebu City that is great for retirement. But it is a side that, while far from being eroded completely, has been eroded enough to make the prospect of living out the golden years here a truly touch-and-go prospect. An MOU just cannot assure anything.