For our special presentation on our talkshow Straight from the Sky, our special guest flew from Manila to be with us and talk about corruption in the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) and the issues that led to the closure of the fabled island resort of Boracay. He is Mr. Ricardo B. Ramos of Infra Watch and a former head of Task Force Boracay when he was with the Department of Tourism during the time of then Pres. Corazon Aquino.
Rick Ramos used to write for Manila Times and is an avid contributor to the Philippine Daily Inquirer. We are friends in Facebook and every now and then he gives me some tips regarding corruption in the government especially with regards infrastructure development, which is right up my alley. One piece that he shared was a question: Why has Pres. Digong Duterte's anti-corruption campaign not fired a single DPWH official when this government agency is considered one of the most corrupt agencies in the government? This is a good question indeed.
So watch Mr. Rick Ramos tonight on SkyCable's channel 53 at 8 p.m. with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. We also have replays on MyTV's channel 30 at 9 p.m. Monday and at 7 a.m. and 9 p.m. on Wednesday and Friday.
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National Economic Development Authority Secretary Ernesto Pernia, during the Philippine Economic Briefing in Cebu last week, said that the Light Rail Transit can take many years to build, contrary to the statement of Chris Kou, a representative from the Chinese-Singaporean consortium proposing the P155-billion project, who said in a press statement the other Sunday that they were expecting to finish the process with the Department of Transportation this year and construction can begin as early as next year.
All this depends upon the NEDA Board if they are interested in pursuing with vigor the Build, Build, Build programs of Pres. Rodrigo "Digong" Duterte. But since the proposed LRT will be done by the Chinese-Singaporean consortium at no cost to the Philippine government, I would like to believe they can do this quickly, after all, the proposal for the LRT is from Carcar to Danao. So they can actually start from anywhere they want to start next year. So this should not be an issue if you ask me.
Pernia asks the poignant question: What do Cebuanos want? He is almost asking us whether we want BRT or not? To answer this question simply, if you are a Cebuano living outside Cebu City either in Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla, or Talisay City, you really don't care about a BRT and would welcome an LRT! Alas for the BRT, it is too Cebu City-centric and excludes Cebuanos living outside of Cebu City.
If you ask me, the lure of the LRT is simply that it addresses the needs of the Cebuanos who work in Cebu City, but live in the bedroom communities of Cebu City, like Talisay or Minglanilla in the south, and Consolacion and Liloan in the north. I submit that we can live with a BRT together with an LRT, so the ultimate question is can we afford to have both? To answer Pernia's question, "Cebuanos want a mass transit system ASAP!"
In his speech before the Cebu Chamber of Commerce & Industry, Inc. at the Marco Polo Plaza last April 19, Rep. Raul del Mar talked about "Fighting traffic over and under." He mentioned routes from D. Jakosalem, F. Sotto Drive, to Arch. Reyes Avenue, Gov. M. Cuenco to Talamban. Then route 2 from Salinas Drive to Serging Osmeña Boulevard and route 3 from Cardinal Rosales, to F. Cabahug Street to Hernan Cortes Street.
Let me remind you that these are noteworthy projects. However I still chastise the DPWH for not giving us more details about this plan for the north side of Cebu City or why the F. Sotto Street widening has ground to a halt. I'm also surprised why the DPWH hasn't approved my pet project the parallel road to Escario St. which no doubt addresses the traffic congestion along Escario Street. This is something that my good friend, Rep. Raul del Mar should also include in his infrastructure package for the north district of Cebu City.