We support Rep. Cutie's 3rd Cebu-Mactan link

The 1st Aboitiz Cebu Country Club Invitational will reel off next week on Aug.11-13 sponsored by the Aboitiz Equities Ventures, Inc. , the International Container Terminal Services, Inc. and Pilipinas Golf Tournaments, Inc. Call it the Cebu leg of the Professional Golf Tournaments where the country’s top golfers will be competing. I’m glad that AEV is sponsoring the Cebu leg of this golf tournament so that golf can once again flourish among Filipinos. It’s about time we give golf some importance.

Filipinos do not excel in many other sports (like archery or golf) because of their misguided love for basketball, where we have a natural handicap. We’re just too short as a people. But golf is a sport where height is not a handicap. In the US, Filipinas like Jennifer Rosales and Dorothy Delasin have won major women’s tournament. But where are the boys? I guess one of the problems stem from the fact that most golf courses no longer have a “Caddies Day” that golf clubs used to have.

On Aug.10, Tuesday, I will be joining the Pro-Am, where professional golfers would team up with professional hackers like me. Wow! I don’t remember when I last played in a Pro-Am Tournament, but I remember when I first joined a Pro-Am, I was paired with Golf Pro Caloy Nival. Man, I could even outdrive my partner, but as they say, “Nong alaw” that was a long time ago at the old but memorable Club Filipino de Cebu which is now the Ayala Business Park. Congratulations to AEV on their golf sponsorship next week.

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I’m glad that Mayor Michael Rama put his foot down on the proposal to purchase those Helio airplanes for Cebu City in exchange for building schools. I love airplanes and I wouldn’t balk riding in one of those, but only for fun. But rescue is for helicopters, not fixed winged aircraft. The bigger question is, would the City of Cebu find a pilot who would accept low wages when most pilots can get huge salaries from airline companies? If you consider the problem plaguing the Philippine Airlines today because their pilots have quit and gone to higher paying jobs, then you know that the City of Cebu would never be able to find a pilot for those planes, even if they have a need for them.

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She is a neophyte on her job but she seem to be doing the right thing. Cebu City North District Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar has already filed House Bill no. 192 seeking to link the City of Cebu to Mactan Island via a 500-meter underwater tunnel as a way of addressing our traffic woes. This is a proposal that we’ve been asking for a long time now. It may not happen right away, but Cutie knows that it begins with her filing this proposal in Congress so we will have the 3rd link to Mactan.

While she admits that this proposal is a bit ambitious, it is the best way to address the future of Cebu. Right now, all traffic going to the Mactan International Airport is through a single road from the North Reclamation towards the Mandaue Reclamation, passing through the busiest roads in Mandaue City, especially that the road to the airport is also the same road that links to Cansaga Bridge then to the town of Liloan. Therefore, it is already a necessity to look for a new road link to Mactan.

The best route is via an undersea tunnel (if this materializes, it will be the country’s first) from Cebu City, preferably through the SRP then to exit in the municipality of Cordova. From there, there is a need to either widen the present roads or construct a new road that would begin from the tunnel towards the Mactan Airport.

When this becomes a reality, traffic towards the airport from Mandaue City would certainly be reduced because the people living in the South District of Cebu City or from Talisay all the way down to the South would take the new road. Now who was it who said that Rep. Cutie del Mar wasn’t a woman of her own, but lives in the shadow of her dad, former Rep. Raul del Mar? Kudos for this Cutie. I hope that all our Cebuano Congressmen, regardless of political affiliation, would throw their support for your project.

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During the birthday dinner bash of Kito Obeso, I was with our media friends, Super Bobby Nalzaro and Atty. Eddie Barrita (who comes from Cabadiangan, Compostela). We talked about the good old days. When as a kid, I used to visit my grand uncle Nene Veloso in his Cabadiangan farm because that’s where the Avila and the Segura families evacuated during World War II. After the war, we would go and visit the farm were Lolo Nene had an “Intusan.” Eddie Barrita reminded me of a word that was common in those days, “Tira-Tira, which we made from sugar cane. Those were days when life was very simple, but lots of fun!