An eco-zone debate? Let's go to the basics first!

Kudos to Aboitiz Equity Ventures (AEV) and three of its subsidiaries - Union Bank of the Philippines (UnionBank), Aboitiz Power Corp. (APC) and Aboitiz Transport System Corp. (ATS) - for landing in the top 30 in the Silver Category out of the 214 companies that were rated by the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD) in the year 2009. Mind you, it is not easy for private companies to get into the ICD list as they have a very stringent monitoring system and scorecards that are not easy to hurdle.

On top of this, AEV and AboitizPower were cited as the Best Managed Companies by Finance Asia in its 10th Best Companies in Asia Poll. We in Cebu are proud that the Aboitiz name has become known as amongst the best managed companies in Asia. Our hats off to the Aboitiz family and their officers on their relentless pursuit and passion for better ways of running a business. It truly has paid off with this recognition.

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The 15th Congress hasn’t even started yet, but the fireworks have begun on old issues, like the Light Rail Transit (LRT) supported by Rep. Eddie Gullas vs. the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) supported by Mayor-but-soon-to-be-Congressman Tomas Osmeña and in another vital issue that proposed to turn the entire island of Cebu into an eco-zone. I haven’t wavered with my belief that the LRT is impractical for Cebu because we’re not as big as Metro Manila and as populous. LRT’s work on large cities with large populations just to break even, if that happens at all.

I’ve tried the BRT system in Jakarta and it seems to be working there. Of course, all this came from our trip to Curritiba, Brazil way back in 1996 where we saw the Stairless Bus. It was a concept that was adaptable here in Cebu. I find it so unfortunate that years after our trip to Curritiba, we still haven’t gotten that system going in Cebu.

If only Rep. Gullas and Mayor Tommy didn’t have to quarrel about these things, we just might convince Rep. Gullas to shift his proposal from LRT to a MetroRail system similar to what we had in pre-war Cebu when we had a train service from Danao City all the way to Carcar and have a complimentary system to the BRT. Having a MetroRail is undoubtedly cheaper than an LRT because you do not need to build elevated concrete structures to make the train work. Best of all, it would declog the national highways.

On the issue of turning Cebu into an Economic Zone, I differ with Mayor Osmeña because as a businessman, it would certainly allow foreign direct investors into our shores. Sure the local governments may lose certain taxes when we become an eco-zone, but that can be compensated by other taxes for commercial purposes. It is really a matter for the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc. (CCCI) to sit down with the political leadership and come to terms with each one’s interests.

However, I am a realist. If you ask me ten centavos worth in this, it won’t happened under any government simply because Filipinos are natural crabs and as crabs, they would certainly pull down any crab who succeeds more than the others. There will be so many Congressmen who would be against this bill because they are not part of it. Before we can even start the debate on having that eco-zone let’s go to the basics. If we do not have enough or a stable power and water supply in Cebu, we can never hope to see foreign direct investors coming to Cebu in droves. So first things first, let’s fix what needs to be fixed in Cebu, then we can debate on the eco-zone!

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The House of Representatives have begun its official canvass of the votes for the May 10 elections. This will be interesting as it will be the first time Congress will have two types of canvass; one for the electronically transmitted Certificates of Canvass (CoC) and one for the manual count. Meanwhile, Smartmatic suggested that it may allow a manual count in light of the numerous complaints by losing candidates to prove that there was no cheating in the last May polls. Now it seems that the Commission on Elections (Comelec) too is looking at this possibility. If these people truly want the truth to come out, then so be it, let’s go into a manual count. I suggest that we open all the ballot boxes in Cebu Province so that we can get answers to our questions like how Gov. Gwen Garcia lost in her own precinct and in the district of her father Rep. Pabling Garcia.

Opening the ballot boxes in Cebu will also reveal the real score as to why Sen. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III won in places that he was expected not to do well. Best of all, we can get into the bottom of why Makati Mayor Jejomar Binay got more votes than Sen. Loren Legarda when he is not known in the far-flung areas of Cebu. Abangan!

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