Cebuanos in a state of puasa under P.Noy?

It's good for President Aquino to visit Cebu from time to time and see what's happening here economically, socially and of course, politically. This land of the Bisdak has been among the leading provinces in the country in terms of socio-economic development, hence, what's going on deserves the attention of Malacañang.

We understand of course that P.Noy is somewhat sore at the Cebuanos for having been the darling of his nemesis, former president Gloria Macapagal Arroyo. But was it their fault if that lady president took them into her affection? It's true that their 1 million votes made her win in 1994 but this happened because among the presidentiables at that time she was perceived to be the best.

The same perception influenced their choice in the last elections, that's why P.Noy had the highest votes in Cebu. The count may not be a million over that of the other candidates. But it was substantial enough as add-on to P.Noy's total count. This fact should be enough to soften the president's heart towards the Cebuanos and be more responsive to their developmental needs.

One of these needs is transport infrastructure, especially the Cebu-Bohol cause-way. When this was mentioned the last time P.Noy was in Cebu he said something about it being a good dream. He was being candid, of course, considering perhaps the huge expense this project would entail.

A dream, yes, but it's a doable one, and Cebuanos in tandem with Boholanos can do it - even with a minimal fund exposure. What they need is a push from the Pasig office and other forms of assistance.

Years ago, during President Estrada's watch a politician told the Cebuanos "magpuasa mo". But a couple of years later Edsa II occurred and with GMA assuming the presidency, the "puasa" was cut short and better times came around. Thus, major infra projects were undertaken: The coastal south road, with its subway, the Paknaan roadway with its cause-way, a couple of flyovers, road-widening and concreting north and south of Cebu and of course the Marcelo Fernan bridge.

With the new leadership what infrastructure is being programmed for Cebu? Will the Cebuanos go back to their puasa state? The answer depends on the temper of P.Noy or that of his advisers.

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Secretary Armin Luistro of DepEd has just come out with his first 100-day report. Quoting President Aquino, he said that education is the key to the long-term problems of the country and that if basic education is fixed such problems will also be fixed. How does the secretary propose to invigorate Philippine basic education? A ten-point agenda (also sourced from P.Noy) have been identified, among which is the adoption of a 12-year basic education program, the provision for a pre-school exposure to all school children, Science and Math proficiency, technical and vocational education, rationalization of the medium of instruction and assistance to private schools - certainly a heavy bag of concerns but very vital to making education an instrument of national development and progress. The big question is: Can Luistro do these considering the miserly temper of our legislators when it comes to funding education?

Take one thrust, the 12-year program for elementary and high school (6 years of elementary, 4 years of secondary and 2 years of senior high school), the estimated cost for an increment of just one curriculum year is from 20 to 25 billion pesos. This, plus the cost of a universal pre-school program, which would need about the same amount, would mean a 50 billion increment to the outlay for basic education (current figure: 143 billion pesos). At this estimate the addition of three curriculum years would therefore mean an increase of about 75 billion to the current budget of the department. Gargantuan amount, certainly. But that's not all because under the agenda, there are 8 other initiatives which also need to be funded. This means that tens of billions more should be allocated to education for this ambitious project. Can we afford it?

The answer depends upon the state of our economy in the next six years - and the willingness of Congress to spend tens of billions more for education.