EDITORIAL - Silent majority still find use for flyovers

It would be a pity if funds already in the pipeline for the construction of more flyovers in Cebu would revert back to national government coffers because they remained unused due to the noisy opposition of a few people.

Given the hundreds of infrastructure and other projects all over the islands begging for funding from the national government each year, it would be extremely lucky for one particular place like Cebu to get the funding it needs out of the many that similarly need it.

 But now that the funds are ready, the projects for which they are to be spent are being blocked. And for no other reason than that the projects will allegedly affect a few properties and businesses in the vicinity of the proposed projects.

The property owners are not admitting that, of course. Instead they issue motherhood statements about living conditions in the city, conditions they never raised a peep about before the new flyover projects were proposed. It is only now that it seems convenient to do so.

The oppositors have been around long enough to see the first flyover projects go up in the city. But as far as anyone can remember, it was only architect Melva Java who stood up to complain. No personal interest fired up Java other than her professional convictions.

Java eventually gave up on realizing it was futile to block development, no matter how skewed such development may seem in her professional estimation. And so flyovers kept going up, admittedly stop-gap measures, but useful nevertheless in the absence of better ideas.

Even the present oppositors must have used these flyovers countless of times as they went about their lives in the city. It probably never occurred to them to skirt and avoid using these flyovers as a matter of principle if they are so against it.

Our guess is they were never against it until one was proposed near their properties. Then all of a sudden all flyovers are bad, ugly, retrogressive, contrary to quality living, and whatever else negative to describe them. Funny how quality living now hinges solely on flyovers.

If it is any indication of the isolation of their views, the masses who toil daily to earn peanuts for a living and who badly need flyovers so as not to lose precious minutes off their wages have not risen to join the cause. Feet on the ground, they understand reality better.