The city is lit! Congrats mayor

At the outset, please allow my lady, Carmen, our kids Belynda, Averell, Byron, Beatriz and Charisse, and me to wish everyone a blessed and more bountiful new year.

 We welcome this new year, 2011, in the midst of a bright atmosphere. I mean literally bright, what with streets of the city being illumined with thousands of multi-colored tiny dots of lights. (The only problem with the lights placed in front of our humble home was that, upon our inspection, we found out that the switch melted and was rendered useless so that we could not put on the lights for some nights.)

 The idea of illuminating the city during the Christmas season must have come only from His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama. Oh, by this physical display of gaiety, I can only imagine him to be truly happy and warm human being. Unlike other undertakings initiated by politicians, there was not much fanfare announcing this project. Paradox? Not really. It was possible that I simply missed the attendant publicity when the mayor launched this program.

 To my surprise, the lights just started to decorate the streets sometime in the middle of December 2010. I thought that those tasked with implementing the concept selected only few major streets where to string those dazzling illuminators. If it happened that way, it was still understandable. Then, unexpectedly, they hit my otherwise remote residence area. We realized that the project was not intended for only those streets where the homes of the society’s elite are situated.

 Now that the lights are in place, it is time to evaluate if the project is good and expense thrown for it is worth it. I assume that the city government paid for these electrical gadgets, as well as the billing cost, if any.

 This idea is a departure of the past administration. It is a novelty, a dazzling novelty, if I may add. I do not recall of any time in the two decades of governance of the administration the then mayor (now congressman of the south district) that he even attempted to illumine the city on any Christmas season. In all probability, he thought that it was all up to the citizens to choose to stay in the dark celebrating Christmas. “What the heck was the interest of the city if it looked gloomy in the midst of Christendom’s biggest event”, he must have asked himself in justifying that the city should not spend a single centavo lighting up the streets. And he might have good point there!

 But, it is our constant claim that Cebu City is the queen city of the south. The present adornment lighting up our sidewalks, hanging from trees, radiating from the center of street islands and so forth and so on, bests those that are done by other cities. This radiation of brilliant lights, befitting our claim, is queenly, indeed. If these lights continue to be lit during the feast of Sto. Nino as well as the days of the Sinulog, we shall have shown to our visitors how a queen city looks like.

 Moreover, the lighting up of our city is inspiring. It brings up confidence. We have seen the occurrence, around the world, of so many tragedies, both natural and man-made, that this lighting stroke of the mayor may help us look forward to a better future. It’s not all calamities, after all.

 Having said that, let me compare this expenditure to another expense in the past. Do you remember when, years ago, the city bought several pistols to be given to the barangay captains belonging to the mayor’s political group? And do you recall the justification given? It was to protect the lives of our village chiefs as if getting elected to that position merited them to be marked by criminal elements. The present expense is more positive.Not only it enhances the city’s aesthetics, it promotes peace and order for the denizens of the world who thrive in dark havens.

 So, it is a positive step that the mayor takes. Let us congratulate him. This street decoration of myriad lights may, realistically, be superficial but, we have seen many great events start with rather innocuous beginnings. Can we look forward to more meaningful projects, Mayor?

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Email: [email protected] . (FREEMAN)