Cebu a transshipment port by the Chinese Triad

The Freeman’s headline news yesterday of two Chinese nationals caught and arrested at the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA) is concrete proof that the dreaded Chinese Triad has been using Cebu as a transshipment port in pushing illegal drugs, not just coming to Cebu, but also transporting them out of Cebu. That we have 75 Filipino “mules” awaiting their death sentence in China is also another proof that the illegal drug trade is indeed a brisk business… risky, but brisk!

Already many radio commentators and pundits alike have cracked up jokes that perhaps it is time for the P.Noy administration to visit China and ask for a “prisoner swap”. Hilarious as it may sound, but China is not at war with the Philippines, so we could never have such a prisoner swap. But by now, both our governments should take the drug issue more seriously and do something about this problem. Of course China has the ultimate solution - execute those mules so they can’t transport illegal drugs to their country anymore.

One drug offender that got himself a light sentence in a Hong Kong court is Ilocos Sur Rep. Ronald Singson, the son of Gov. Chavit Singson who admitted to taking illegal drugs and sentence to 15 months in jail. At least for his benefit, he resigned from Congress so that he would not suffer any moves by the House of Representatives to expel him from their roster. So by Monday, his name will be stricken from the roster of Congressmen. Meanwhile the illicit drug trade continues and we just have to keep watch.

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My good friend, former Globe Telecom Communications Chief, Mr. Jones T. Campos recently assumed the position as Executive Director of the Ad Board, which appeared in The Philippine Star a couple of days ago. So I called up Jones to congratulate him. Of course he also gave me the bad news that Cebu had lost its chance to host the Ad Congress come November 2011. The Ad Congress brings together the nation’s top business, advertising and media firms in one major convention. Last year, it was the Subic Freeport that hosted the Ad Congress.

I forgot what year it was when Cebu last played host to the Ad Congress, which is one of the biggest tourism drawers because all the hotel rooms in Cebu was full. Alas, Camarines Sur (CamSur) beat Cebu. There’s no doubt that CamSur would put its best foot forward in hosting the Ad Congress and we can only congratulate them for their very first hosting of the 22nd Ad Congress whose theme is “A Game Changing Generation.” Of course credit for this goes to their dynamic Governor Luis “LRay” Villafuerte, whom I have met once when he was here in Cebu. So kudos to CamSur for their hosting of the Ad Congress.

Now that we’ve lost the Ad Congress, we should take stock of ourselves and ask: Why is Cebu losing its Tourism luster? First of all, we must address those problems that offend tourists who come to Cebu. First is a massive cleanup drive, not that we’re preparing for a huge tourism event, but rather we should do a clean-up drive everyday because we still have many tourists visiting us but a lot of them won’t be coming back unless we clean up our own backyards.

A couple of weeks ago, we got stuck in more than an hour of traffic because of a celebration in Barangay Mactan, which caused a massive traffic jam just a kilometer before reaching the Mactan Island’s Shangri-La Resort & Spa and the Hilton. Other problems along the road in Mactan is the lack of a drainage system, whereby half the roads become flooded, thus children have to walk in the middle of the road because the other half is impassable. Surely these small problems should be addressed by Mayor Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City. Then there are always the problems of bad, potholed roads.

Whenever my car hits a pothole, it immediately reminds me of a government employee who failed to do his or her job. The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) told us that they have a budget for road maintenance, but the potholes that we see or fall into belies that statement.

When I was running the Cebu City Traffic Operations and Management (CITOM) I had a special squad doing nothing but looking for potholes. If and when the City of Cebu didn’t have any asphalt, then we cover the potholes with “anapog” so that at least the motorists won’t fall into those potholes. Today, we have to learn to memorize where the potholes are so that we can avoid them if and when we pass a certain section of the City of Cebu. Alas, even under the Presidency of Pres. Benigno “Noynoy” Aquino III nothing really much has changed. And if there are noticeable changes, you can bet it makes our roads worse than before.

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