The idea of his honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, to designate someone to help find out if the city is not shortchanged by imperial Manila, while not really original, is still very relevant. The mayor is quoted as expressing some degree of suspicion that we, Cebu City residents, are not getting our fair return of the taxes we pay. That feeling of being left out in the allocation of national funds for needed projects is shared by many Cebuanos.
I surmise that what the mayor hopes to uncover and see for himself are the amounts of our tax remittances and evaluate whether the projects, if any, that are worked on in our city are commensurate to the kind of tax funds we give. He probably wants to compare how much is poured to Metro Manila in relation what is being done here. It is in his mind, and rightly so, that we are entitled to the release of monies for national projects to be undertaken hereabout.
But, if seeing is believing, what is visible to the naked eye is quite easy to appreciate. Because transportation is a sure catalyst of growth, let us talk about roads. I recall that the last time a road was opened in Cebu City, courtesy of the national government, was in the early 1990's. That was the project that extended Imus Street from its former end at Sikatuna Street towards the corner of Gen. Maxilom Avenue and M. Cuenco Avenue. By that reckoning, our city did not get any significant infrastructure project from the central government for more than twenty years. If that is not a form of utter neglect, I do not know what it is.
In my mind however, there is no one to blame but Cebuanos. We believed in the propaganda peddled by our leaders that ours is a city second to none. Many of those who lead our city want to project the image that we are capable making Cebu move forwards sans national aid. And probably out of that posture, they, meaning our leaders, did not like to appear as asking for help from national coffers.
Further, we have not gone beyond our bragging that we have among the best minds and the most visionary in our midst. It is true that we teem with learned professionals and that we abound in men and women who are capable of providing sound leadership. Alas, despite such abundance, we have not been able to put a brother Cebuano at the helm of national leadership.
To address this dire situation, I challenge our people to dare to dream for two things, namely, a quick practical solution and long term ideal concept.
The combined voting population of Central Visayas is big. It can be used as a foundation of a practical effort designed to achieve something within a short period. If all congressmen, governors and city mayors in the region, forget personal considerations, and agree to work for a common presidential timber, in 2016, on the condition that Central Visayas shall be the focus of fund allocation for projects, we probably can see the realization of say, bridges to connect Negros Oriental to Cebu and Cebu to Bohol, as well as the construction of trans-axial road imagined by the late Engr. Greg Sanchez.
There is also an ideal program. It requires a longer term beyond 2016. It is the identification who among our youths are intellectually gifted and who while yet young show leadership skills. They shall be continuously honed and carefully nurtured to approximate their promise. It must be instilled in their hearts and minds that the future of this country lies in their hands more than in the handiwork of the less intellectually endowed.
But, in both of these directions, the help of the wealthy and socially concerned families is indispensable. Cebu is blessed with many such clans a good percentage of whom does not want to be seen active in political circles. They are the ones who have the wherewithal to fund the kind of undertakings we need to make sure that Cebu City and Central Visayas will not just be given unworthy morsels.