EDITORIAL - Again, what view?

According to a story in this newspaper, the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP) has called on the Cebu Provincial Government to act as the proposed Bus Rapid Transit Capitol Station along Osmeña Boulevard is threatening to block the visual corridor of the historical Cebu Provincial Capitol building.

The NHCP warned that the planned median station could obstruct the panoramic view of the Capitol, a declared national historical landmark.

Obstruct the panoramic view of the Capitol from where, exactly?

Allow us to raise our point mentioned in a previous editorial.

The panoramic view of the Capitol building is something that has been lost to the public a long time ago. After World War II the view was still there as there was mostly only empty space between the Capitol and the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda. That was the best time someone could get a panoramic view of the Capitol.

But because progress cannot be stopped, buildings rose on both sides of Osmeña Boulevard and the view from the rotunda gradually became obscured as decades passed. More so when dividing concrete islands were built in the middle of the boulevard and planted with Indian trees.

If they are talking about keeping Osmeña Boulevard clear so people can see the Capitol from the rotunda we can tell them right now it’s not worth it. It’s so far away, in fact almost a kilometer away, that they won’t be able to appreciate the building. Of course they will only see the center of the building and not the wings.

As it is right now, the only way one can view the Capitol building from wing to wing --the very definition of a panoramic view-- is to look at it directly from the front on the building. Sure one can also stand in the middle of Osmeña Boulevard a stone’s throw away, but that isn’t exactly safe.

Don’t get us wrong here. We are for promoting our local tourist attractions, and the Capitol building ranks among our architectural marvels, but there is no more view to talk about from so far away.