EDITORIAL – Revival of Metro bill deserves public support

It is good that there are now calls for the revival of a bill, first filed by Rep. Raul del Mar, that sought the creation of a Metro Cebu Development Authority to oversee the delivery of services throughout Metro Cebu. Why the bill died in the first place is not clear. What is important is that there now seems to be a need to breathe new life to it.

The initiative deserves the widest support of the public. It is clear the calls to revive the del Mar bill is born of necessity. Metro Cebu residents must have finally seen the practicality and urgency of having a body that addresses cross-border concerns in the Metro. The initiative could not have been more timely. There is no time to lose because the problems besetting the Metro have become almost too huge and unwieldy to handle.

Traffic and flooding, for instance, are two cross-border concerns that cannot be solved by individual application of solutions. For example, a traffic jam that occurs in Mandaue City will likely spill over to Cebu City and vice versa. Flood waters that swamp Cebu City will not likely stay within Cebu City but also spill over to Mandaue City and vice versa.

In other words, many of the problems that bug a growing metropolis will have to need integrated and coordinated approaches and solutions. This is no longer the time for unique solutions to common problems. Territorial boundaries within the Metro should be limited to political purposes. That is where you may focus only on the trees. Beyond that, there is the huge forest begging to be noticed.

However del Mar may recraft his bill, and whatever inputs it may accept from all the Metro stakeholders, the perceived goal has to be very evident for all concerned. It must be a bill that needs to pass into law. And it must be a law that is capable of hewing to the purpose for which it was proposed. In other words, it must be able to address the concerns and solve the problems for which there is now a crying need for its creation.

But everyone who desires to contribute an input into the new bill will have to leave political self-interests at the door. The last thing the people of Metro Cebu need is for politics to scuttle what is clearly an urgent need. Let the bill and all its provisions transcend political interests so that it will be fully equipped with unadulterated powers of governance.

The problems besetting Metro Manila are not lost to the people of Metro Cebu. Yet Metro Manila has advantages Cebuanos do not have. For one, it is in the seat of power and can avail of national government assistances with a quickness and a certainty Cebu does not and will never enjoy. For another, Metro Manila is part of the larger Luzon island and has therefore the real estate to expand, a luxury we do not have with our narrow sliver of land. This gives Metro Manila time we don't have.