Give the Metro Cebu Coordination Board a chance

The ink in the Memorandum of Agreement creating the Metro Cebu Development Coordination Board (MCDCB) that was signed last Friday April 1 hasn’t even dried up and already it’s getting flak from the Cebu City Council. Perhaps it is time to call a spade a spade. What if it was Mayor Tomas Osmeña who signed this MoA, would the Cebu City Council complain? I doubt it!

Maybe we should remind our beloved City Councilors that their job description is to legislate laws or ordinances for the City of Cebu. Coordination is the operative word here, which means it is the Executive Branch that “coordinates” with the other Local Government Units (LGUs). Hence they should not be complaining about this development. In fact, the “Big Brother” program was initiated by then Mayor Tomas Osmeña during his first term of office, which is why a lot of Kaoshuing Buses were given to other LGUs. Now was that “Big Brother” of Mayor Osmeña legislated into a law?

 Now if and when the MCDCB needs laws on sanitation or traffic which should be uniformed with the other LGU’s then that’s the time that Mayor Michael Rama has to send this over to the Cebu City Council for their approval, especially if such an ordinance needs a public hearing. This is when the Cebu City Council can participate in this program.

Perhaps our problem lies on the reality that there’s just too much politics happening in our city, more than we need. What Cebu City needs to do is move forward in consonance with the other LGUs within the Province of Cebu. As Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Inc. (RAFI) Pres. Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz pointed out, we should paddle our oars (Bugsay) in one direction in order for Cebu to move forward. I fully concur with his observations, especially at these times when the world is in turmoil, not only by man-made disasters, but natural disasters as well.

A case in point is the senseless, utterly useless squabble between then Mayor now, Rep. Tomas Osmena and Gov. Gwen F. Garcia, which has resulted in stopping the Cuidad Project, which was already bided out by the Province of Cebu. No one cared to ask whether this would be beneficial or not. It was stopped on the ruse that it would cause more traffic in the Banilad-Talamban (Ban-Tal) area.

 That was an example of a man-made disaster. Something that could have been prevented if only our political leaders acted with humility and talked with each other for the good of Cebu. But then we know too well that because of the South Road Properties (SRP) then Mayor Osmeña focused his attention towards the development of the South District of Cebu, hence he didn’t care anymore if the North District stopped developing.

 Lately, I gathered that the City of Cebu, through the Cebu City Traffic Operations & Management (CITOM) are now having meetings with the Province of Cebu to allow the opening of the Ciudad Project in return of certain considerations that would ease the traffic problems in the area. Traffic has become terrible in that area precisely because there was no such dialogue between Cebu City and the Province of Cebu.

 I gathered that Mayor Rama will soon be lifting the ban on development in the Ban-Tal area as soon as traffic improves. But Mayor Mike should ask himself this question: “How can traffic improve if we don’t allow the Cuidad Project to push through?” Right now Salinas Drive is the only way in and out of the Asian Town IT Park, and the other exit towards Paradise Village was only made a one-way road when that road, which I had opened during my watch in CITOM was designed for two-way operation. I really don’t know what CITOM has in mind these days, but that corner is now a very important intersection, so why not make it a two-way road?

If Mayor Mike truly wants progress in the Talamban area, he must now ask the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to turn the Talamban Road into a national highway, so that this road could finally be widened and allow new development towards the mountain Barangays and perhaps even link up to the so-called “Backbone Highway” that was proposed by the Province of Cebu, which was then under the supervision of Vice-Gov. Greg Sanchez.

I have no doubt that the MCDCB would do great wonders because of the participation of the private sector, which is eager to work with the government sector. So what we need to do is give the MCDCB a chance to succeed. Meanwhile still on an issue involving the Cebu City Council, there was a controversy on photos of the BOPK Party-mates printed in sides of the Kaoshuing buses and DILG says they should be removed. So we ask the Cebu City Council why are these photos still on the buses?

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