EDITORIAL - The port for a bridge?

The desire of Mayor Michael Rama to see a third bridge to Mactan rise within his term, and to have one end of it firmly rooted in Cebu City is understandable. It is the desire of every leader to leave some legacy of his leadership behind, for future historians to beat a path to his door.

There is also a point in Rama's concern that for a third bridge to be built, it will have to have the Cebu City end planted squarely in the vicinity of the Cebu port and that, therefore, could create serious traffic congestion in the area.

However, everything good so far at this point collapses dramatically the moment Rama introduces his solution to the potential traffic congestion problem, which is to roll up the entire Port of Cebu lock, stock and barrel and move it somewhere to the north — to Consolacion or Liloan, he proposes.

What? For a bridge that may not even be built and a potential traffic problem that can be solved in so many other ways, Rama would rather remove from Cebu City one of its unassailable claims to economic importance and historical significance?

No port in the country is as strategically located than the port of Cebu. It is no accident that the port of Cebu is headquarters to most of the major players in the shipping industry. Any mayor worth his salt would give an arm to have such a port in his city. And the mayor of Cebu City would rather give it away?

Aside from its economic and historical significance, the port of Cebu is also one of the safest in the country. It sits right in the heart of Cebu harbor. Anyone who knows what the meaning of harbor will see that the success of the port of Cebu is no accident either. The Cebu port is what it is because of where it is.

But because of a bridge and the threat of traffic, the mayor of Cebu City wants the port of Cebu, one of the best, busiest, and safest in the country, moved to the north, out of the safety of Cebu harbor, to where it will be exposed to the open and often rough Camotes Sea.

Rama can check this with shipping operators — only weeks ago, at the height of the northeast monsoon or Amihan, many ships leaving Cebu for northern and eastern destinations had to turn back because of big waves as they passed Liloan and on to the Camotes Sea. Yes, Liloan, where Rama wants the port of Cebu relocated.

Of course Liloan may gladly take in the port of Cebu as it would mean tremendous economic benefits to that municipality. But Liloan opens up to the open sea, hardly a good site for a major port. Given a choice as to which to keep — a bridge, a port, or even a mayor — it should be a no-brainer for the people of Cebu City.