A pro-rich but anti-poor ordinance

There are two Cebu City ordinances that tend to favor only (let me repeat that word, “ONLY”) the rich and the mighty who locate their businesses at the south reclamation project, called the South Road Properties. These privileged ones need not necessarily be residents of the city. If they are juridical personalities, their head offices do not have to be in Cebu City nor are their major stockholders Cebuanos. They are the recipient of the favor by the city simply because they are just that - moneyed and high strung.

Unfortunately, an undesirable consequence is immediately glaring. No welter of justification can hide the fact that these local laws prejudice the poor taxpayers of the city. Yes, the balance is tilted grossly in favor of the elite and hopelessly against the poor.

Before attempting to expose some undesirable, read that as reprehensible, aspects of one of these ordinances, let us understand some basics. The SRP was funded by a foreign loan that the city obtained. I believe that it was the then honorable Cebu City mayor and now congressman of the south district who endeavored to secure that borrowing. He would like to claim the honor of the project's originator and it is but fair that we should give it to him.

Anyway, because it is a loan by the city, it had also to be paid from the coffers of the city. No matter how small are the amounts we, as ordinary taxpayers, contribute, the totality of our taxes pay such obligation. Even the most modest of Cebu City residents living in the farthest mountain area of this city also help in paying this SRP cost. Well, in fact, the city still continues to pay until this date this loan. So, we can say that all Cebu City taxpayers, rich and poor alike, share in this burden.

But, I ask you to help me examine a situation. The SRP already started to get its return of investment. The former mayor made it clear that an American investor planned to bring a windfall of benefits to our city as a result of his establishing his business empire on a part of the reclaimed land he leased. Never mind if, today, his promised business beehive is dead in the water. Then, the former mayor also signed some contracts with two of the country's leading conglomerates amounting to billions of pesos as investments at SRP.

However, the city administration changed hands. The succession was not quite friendly. Soon after the incumbent city mayor (I mean, Hon. Mayor Michael L. Rama) started in his administration, he, for reasons unknown to Cebuanos, caught the ire of his predecessor. The immediate effect of the falling out manifested itself in the form of an ordinance passed by the city council. The legislative process though was not very well publicized and that should account for its apparent obscurity.

The said ordinance had, for its purpose, two incredible objectives. Its most proximate goal was to tie the hands of the sitting mayor. Its author, not knowing that he was transgressing administrative lines, intended to make sure that the proceeds of whatever SRP lot could be sold, would and had to be placed beyond the hands of the incumbent.

The second objective was far more devious. The legislative fiat mandated that monies generated from selling the SRP should be used solely for improving the SRP itself. Accordingly, all SRP sales should be devoted to such projects as openings new roads in the SRP, repairing its old and deteriorated ones and putting in place viable drainage system. Remember the catch. These are expenses only for SRP and nowhere else.

In other words, no part of these funds that are realized from selling SRP lots can be allocated for any project outside of the SRP. A school in Sudlon, a road connecting Mabini and Paril, and a health center in Buot-Taup, would have benefited the poor mountain folks but, unfortunately, these are expenditures that for which the SRP sales cannot be used!

The other ordinance even made the assault on the mayor more merciless because it seemed to warn the public that the sitting mayor has not authority to initiate any deal over the SRP. At a later occasion, I will try to show why its author does not deserve our votes this May 2013.

***

Email: [email protected]

www.slightlyofftangent.blogspot.com