Editorial - Uniting for a cause

It is good that the Metro Cebu Development Council, headed by Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia, is hitting the ground running. For it is about time that a unified body gets to tackle the broad concerns affecting an ever expanding metropolitan area.

It is likewise good that the council and its goals are getting the support of at least three congressmen, two of whom, Eduardo Gullas of the first district and Luigi Quisumbing of the sixth district, have jurisdictions that form part of Metro Cebu.

The second district of Pablo Garcia, the father of Gwen, is already outside Metro Cebu, but as a legislator, there is also a lot that he can contribute, perhaps by way of legislation, to the efforts of the MCDC to address the concerns of the Metro.

Besides, both Gullas and the elder Garcia have previously served as governors and are therefore very well-placed to understand these concerns, many of which have, for one reason or another, long remained unaddressed.

Governor Garcia has placed a finger on an integrated drainage masterplan to address once and for all the flooding woes of Metro Cebu. That is understandable. Large areas of Metro Cebu have just emerged from one of the worst floodings in contemporary history.

And with weather experts seeing more rains even into summer, it is imperative something gets to be done about drainage. Of course it may be too late to address this year’s coming rains. But if a system can be whipped up fast, we can at least be ready for the next and coming years.

But the MCDC should also heed the words of wisdom coming from those who have been there. Gullas, for instance, wants the MCDC to tackle as soon as it can the other concerns affecting the Metro, such as traffic.

Gullas, a long-time governor of Cebu, already recognized during his time that one of the great problems a rapidly growing metropolis needs to have is an integrated traffic management system and once commissioned a land use and transport study. He suggests a similar study be made now.

But all of the good intentions of the MCDC will all go to naught if it does not get the support of everyone, especially the local officials within the Metro. If politics again creeps into the picture and no unity of purpose is achieved, then it is the Cebuanos who suffer.