The Mega Cebu Convergence Meeting

Last Tuesday morning I joined the “Convergence of Mega Cebu Leaders” meeting at the Eduardo Aboitiz Development Studies Center together with Cebu’s political leaders, led by Cebu Governor Hilario “Jun Jun” Davide III, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, Talisay Mayor Johnny de los Reyes, Cordova Mayor Ade Sitoy, Consolacion Mayor Teresa Aligado with Cebu’s congressional leaders led by Rep. Raul del Mar, Rep. Gwen F. Garcia, Rep. Benhur Salimbangon, Rep. Willie Caminero, and Rep. Luigi Quisumbing, including national government agencies representatives.

Basically that meeting with the members of the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board and the political sectors was done in order to appraise every one of the gains that Mega Cebu has done in the past two years. First to speak was Gov. Davide who immediately announced that the proposed Mega Cebu Development Authority (MCDA) was already in the works. For the record, the MCDA was originally called the Metro Cebu Development Authority, but the name was changed to Mega in order to include the 13 municipalities in the greater Metro Cebu Area.

Rep. Raul del Mar, the principal sponsor of House Bill No. 6227 explained the history of this bill which began in 1998 which was the result of the First Cebu Traffic Summit that we called during my stint as CITOM chairman. Unfortunately, there was an opposition to this law because one of the mayors wanted a “Veto power” which was unacceptable to the other LGUs, so it died a natural death.

Then I somehow convinced Rep. del Mar that instead of the MCDA, we reduce it to the Metro Cebu Traffic Authority (MCTA). But then again, it ran into problems within the members of Congress that could not see the wisdom of having a unified Traffic Authority for Metro Cebu. So that proposal never took off. So now enter House Bill No.6227. This time it is called Mega Cebu Development Authority (MCDA). So the big question is, will it get the nod of the House of Representatives?

Rep. del Mar told us that Congress went on a recess last Oct. 9th and will resume on Nov. 3rd. But when Congress resumes its sessions, these would end by Dec. 19th, which means Congress has just a little over a month to approve many measures that remain hanging or left unapproved. One of them is the Freedom of Information Bill or the controversial Bangsa Moro Basic Law.  I’m going to bet that this Congress will spend those last remaining days fighting for the approval of the BBL. But since we’re thick in election fever mode, I doubt if the BBL would pass at all.

Anyway, MDCB co-chairman Roberto “Bobby” Aboitiz opened the meeting with a brief statement when he said, “We are taking charge of our future.” I fully believe in the concept of a Mega Cebu because if Cebu cannot gain independence from Imperial Manila nor can we achieve our dream of a Federalized Philippines, then the Mega Cebu is the only avenue left for us Cebuanos to come up with a government that is truly for the Cebuanos and run by Cebuanos. Most of our problems come from the bureaucracies of national government agencies that stifle our growth — Cebu and the Visayas.

Meanwhile ma’am Evelyn Nacario Castro gave us updates of what has been happening with Mega Cebu. During the Q & A, Rep. Benhur Salimbangon asked a very pertinent question…”If I sign up to get the MCDA signed…what does my 4th District get out of it?” This triggered a lot of discussion, but in the end, the suggestion by Rep. Gwen Garcia to expand Mega Cebu to include the entire island of Cebu was accepted.

Bobby Aboitiz spoke that Bogo City in Benhur’s district is a mere 100 kilometers from Cebu City. In modern countries with freeways, a hundred kilometers is a mere one-hour road trip. But thanks to our 3rd world roads built by the 3rd world mentality of our DPWH officials, a trip to Bogo is a minimum two hours or more road trip.

Bobby Aboitiz added that if a foreign investor was looking for a 300-hectare property for investment, the only place in Cebu that they can find is outside Mega Cebu. That thought really sunk in with everyone in the room… that we should work hard to build a freeway from Metro Cebu all the way to Bogo City and down south to Oslob.

Indeed, when Dondi Joseph and I were in Dubai, we took a bus from Dubai to Abu Dhabi because it is a mere 100 kilometers. With their eight-lane freeway, the bus ride only took 40 minutes. Now Cebu City to Bogo City is also 100 kilometers… so if we had even a six-lane freeway, driving to Bogo would only be a 40-minute trip. So if Mega Cebu can take charge of the future of Cebu… just imagine, a trip to Bantayan Island would be less than an hour’s trip away. But of course we still have to take a ferry ride, which will also take you an hour. But this is the potential growth we should give to Bogo City so they can join us as a major part for foreign investments to Cebu.

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