Edu, Cutie vow to work together for common good

CEBU, Philippines —  Despite being under different political parties, the newly-elected representatives in the two districts of Cebu City South District’s Eduardo “Edu” Rama and  North District’s Rachel Marguerite “Cutie” del Mar have vowed to work together for the benefit of their constituents.

Rama, who is a member of Barug PDP-Laban, and del Mar, who is a member of Bando Osmeña Pundok-Kauswagan (BOPK), made the pledge during MyTV’s Openline Forum yesterday.

During the forum, they said they will continue to push for the bill introduced by the late North District Rep. Raul del Mar, which is House Bill No. 11 or the “Mega Cebu Development Authority Act.”

Through this, there will be increased funding from the national government for more Cebu projects.

“Building and capitalizing on the gains of collaboration and engagement and in the pursuit of the Mega Cebu 2050 Vision, there is a need to establish the Mega Cebu Development Authority (MCDA) to initiate efforts, provide services, and coordinate policies, plans, programs, and projects with concerned local government units (LGUs), national government agencies (NGAs), government owned and controlled corporations (GOCCs), private sector and civil society, and constituent communities with regard to the development and promotion of shared assets and resources, delivery of common services and functions, all trans-boundary in nature, to achieve integrated, inclusive, and sustained development,” reads House Bill No. 11.

Among the functions of MCDA are to formulate, coordinate, regulate and monitor the short, medium, and long-term plans, policies, and programs for the sustainable development and integration of the Metropolitan Cebu area and the Province of Cebu, including investment programs for the delivery of multi-LGU or Metropolitan Cebu and the Province of Cebu services, land use, spatial, and physical development using strong, coherent governing values and shared vision, with focus on integrated systems for urban development.

Both Rama and del Mar said consultations and coordination are very important to achieve the goal on specific programs.

They added that they will push for programs in education and health, especially that the COVID-19 pandemic is still present.

They said that they are serving the people, so it is proper that they collaborate on certain programs.

The newly-elected representatives are also open to the possibility of establishing another district in

Cebu City, saying that such an approach will provide more budget for more programs in the city.

Rama and del Mar also mentioned working together in solving the city’s flooding problem.

During the May 9, 2022 elections, del Mar garnered 117,512 votes while Rama got 168,476 votes. — JMD (FREEMAN)