It is not entirely unusual that some leaders reveal important decisions in the most coy of declarations as it is also not uncommon for people to utter what would come out to be quotable quotes in unseemly situations. When, for instance, then American Congressman Richard Lugar, told former Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos, in 1986, to step down from Malacañang Palace, he did not imagine that his words "cut and cut clean" even if grammatically flawed, would be immortalized.
Such was the case that surfaced during a brief encounter, few days ago, between His Honor, Cebu City Mayor Michael L. Rama, and Cebu media personalities. Reporters called the chance meeting as "ambush interview." The mayor was then inspecting that area in Barangay Kamagayan that just got cleared of informal settlers when he gave an inkling on what he envisions for the once-upon-a time red light and drug infested district. The place used to be the wet and dry marker of the Citicenter Development Corporation which, for the reported non-payment of real estate taxes, was sold at public auction where the city was the only bidder.
Asked what he planned to do with it, Mayor Rama, in his characteristic run-about manner of saying things, made what to me were two clear policy announcements. Unfortunately, the importance of his direction was somehow blurred by the non-specificity of his language. No, he was not short of words. In fact, it was his verbosity that lightened the welter of pronouncement.
The honourable mayor spoke about converting the former Citicenter complex into a housing project of some kind after the completion of the Cebu City Medical Center. An apparent vagueness of his lingo was there although it could also be argued that he designed it that way to demarcate his priority. In essence, he meant first to build a modern multi-story, billion peso city hospital notwithstanding the obstacles he is currently facing. As his second major project, he hinted (because his language was not specifically clear) to develop, in Kamagayan, condominium type of residential units for city government employees. It thus, appeared that to focus in these efforts, the mayor planned to handle them one after the other.
Since the plan to construct the medical center is now on its feverish pace, let us rather have the patience to wait for its fruition than dwell on it with our unhelpful opinionated stance. We may as well look forward to the development of the former citicenter because it is likely to take place in the future and therefore whatever ideas we can give might be considered by the city administration.
First, let us remember what happened to many sitios in Barangay Lorega-San Miguel area. More than a year ago, a major conflagration leveled the place. The wide swath of the fire left such a space large that could have been ideal for the government to conceptualize a fairly modern urban residence. Had the city seized the chance, it could have built an aesthetically designed multi-storey structure with more than enough spaces to accommodate all the fire victims. Such a planning could have resulted to provision for amenities of modern living. Unfortunately, in the rush to allow the fire victims to erect their own homes, and of course, that was in the minds of everyone else, the city was unable to plan better. Sadly, it was an opportunity lost.
Second, the same chance that resulted from the Lorega San Miguel fire is at hand in Kamagayan. The city government must not squander this opportunity. This will never pass again. But, instead of closing his mind on any other idea than embarking on a housing project for city hall employees, he might consider the plan of putting up a kind of structure where all relief efforts must come from in case of major calamities. The very area in Kamayagan is at the center of the city such that manpower, carrying needed materials, can be deployed rather quickly to wherever in the city that needs help.
Experts warn of humongous disasters. Yolanda and the Bohol earthquake typified the kind of foreseen destruction. If they are unavoidable, let us make the city be ready for them if only to minimize the perceived damage. A good starting point must arise at Kamagayan.