Vivid signs of mayor's neglect

To visit a friend in Barangay San Roque, this city, a place which abuts the Pier 1 and 2, I wanted to drive thru Arellano Boulevard. I remembered it to be a very wide road, using Cebu City standards. In my memory, the road was paved and its sidewalks free from any form of obstructions. So I imagined, I would reach my friend's place without hassle. After all, it was then well past office hours.

I entered the Cebu Port perimeter near the SM mall and leisurely drove towards T. Padilla Extension. Right after reaching that street, I turned left in the direction of the pier. Then, my sixth sense, (pardon my superstition) told me something was going awry. I planned to turn right, about 80 meters ahead, to Arellano Boulevard, but, from that distance, there appeared a slowing down of traffic.

Indeed, when I reached the area, I found out that my imagination of Arellano Boulevard was wrong. What used to be a four-lane avenue was reduced to less than half its original width. One lane disappeared and still another one became totally impassable because structures were erected there.

I was following a vehicle on the remaining available lane. It was driven so very slowly that if I only did not see half naked children running across, older people doing carpentry work, playing mahjong, drinking some beverage, standing on the road watching tv or plainly talking with one another, I would conclude that the driver was trying to test my patience.

The scene at that portion of what was once a beautiful Arellano Boulevard would make the late former Supreme Court Chief Justice Cayetano Arellano squirm. If he could only say his piece, he would not want his memory tarnished by an unsightly indication of government neglect.

The city administration of His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña has chosen to neglect the welfare of the residents in that area. The mayor failed to establish a norm of a habitable community for them. Instead, by allowing hundreds of families to put up their homes on a public road, he exposed them to unimaginable hazards, like fire. We saw recently how thousands of houses, in nearby Mandaue City, were quickly razed to the ground, because they were built close to one another.

It is unbelievable that Mayor Osmeña committed this monumental neglect of his own people considering that he planned to give Cebu City's millions of pesos, to the senior citizens of Cordova. Need we remind him that these men and women live outside of the territory of the city?

There is a graver neglect our mayor has committed. It is the neglect to uphold the laws of the land, he, upon his oath of office, swore to do. By allowing these residents of Arellano Boulevard to seize upon a public road, he misled them into thinking that it is right to squat on the road. By not calling their attention to this illegal act, the mayor impressed upon all persons similarly minded that they could disobey the law and go without sanctions.

 There is still time to rectify the wrong done by the mayor and better still, put a direction to this city administration, in so far as this kind of a problem is concerned. If Mayor Osmeña wants these settlers of Arellano Boulevard to own legitimately this road, he can probably have an ordinance passed by his council declaring this road as abandoned. When that ordinance has become effective, he can dictate upon our councilors to pass another local legislation allowing these settlers to own the abandoned road. As a road user, I do not like this move but if the mayor wants to preserve his block of political followers, this is a good action.

Or the mayor may ask his councilors to pass an ordinance appropriating the kind of money which he planned to give to Cordova, to buy a piece of land to convert to a settlement area for the Arellano Boulevard settlers. That way, he can clear the road of settlers, allow the motorists to enjoy a better road condition to travel on, and most importantly, provide a habitable community for them somewhere else.

Whichever action the mayor may take, it will provide direction to his administration rather than allow the consequences of his neglect root.

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