Cebu excited over Duterte

Looks like political power has really shifted south. It isn’t just Davao. Cebuanos are also claiming incoming president Duterte as a native son and are excited about what that means for Cebu’s progress.

 Over a thousand clients of BDO, the country’s top bank, crowded a hall at the new SMX Convention Center at Cebu’s SRP or the South Reclamation Project. They eagerly listened as incoming Economic Planning secretary Dr. Ernie Pernia gave an extensive presentation of the Duterte administration’s economic plans.

As part of the briefing’s panel of reactors to Dr. Pernia’s presentation, I told the gathering there has been no government of transition we can remember that has kept us excited, worried and hopeful all at the same time.

I noted expectations are high, but frustration and disappointment may happen quickly too. People will be observing how decisive the new leader will be.

But I reassured the obviously hopeful crowd that I feel good about the incoming administration. I feel a strong sense of mission not only with the president-elect, but also with most of his Cabinet members. It is also a question of how the entrenched system will react to change.

Over cocktails after the briefing, Cebu’s entrepreneurs told me they hope Federalism will give them more freedom to do business. They are tired of the governance bottlenecks in Manila that slow down their businesses and hope these will be cleared up by a brand new team composed mostly of people from the provinces.

Indeed, it occurred to me that Cebu must have a high percentage of impatient and frustrated entrepreneurs, as shown by the big attendance in the briefing. They wanted to know how Duterte’s economic plans will provide them new opportunities for expansion or entry into new businesses.

Later in the evening, I joined Mayor Tommy Osmeña and visiting Sen. Sonny Angara. Sonny was an instant hit with law students who wanted selfies with him. They have been studying his legislative proposals, notably on tax reform. Yes, tax reform was also on top of the wish list of Cebu’s entrepreneurs.

Tommy reiterated the need for the whole government to be in harmony with programs to create and preserve jobs. Tommy lamented the national bureaucracy often fails to realize how bad work attitude can negate efforts to drum up job-creating investments.

Tommy cited a frustrating experience with the local Customs people. He explained that for so many years now, Timex had been manufacturing watches in Mactan and employing a great number of local labor.

Timex operates a “just in time” logistical system. Components arrive just in time for manufacturing and finished products move out quickly to meet worldwide market demand. There had been many times when the Customs people refused to work overtime. Of course this disrupts operations and has made Timex unhappy enough to think twice about expansion or even remaining here.

Tommy also expressed concern about labor policies that may finally drive away current investors and discourage potential ones. Timex, he explained, requires more temporary workers towards the Christmas season and are worried a ban on contractual workers would negatively impact their costs.

There was also a time when a Labor Secretary visited Cebu, Tommy related, and told a press conference that the minimum wage may be doubled. A Japanese company on the verge of expansion abruptly cancelled plans as soon as the Japanese business press reported about the planned wage adjustment.

Tommy also complained about how Imperial Manila sits on projects such as the long delayed Bus Rapid Transit system (BRT). Tommy related that as mayor, he went to Curitiba, Brazil over 10 years ago to check out the system. He had project feasibility studies done on it, three in fact financed by foreign development assistance agencies. But the DOTC didn’t move.

I remember asking DOTC Secretary Jun Abaya about it and he said P-Noy wanted a proof of concept before approving the project. Abaya said they were planning to do that along Commonwealth Avenue. But they eventually announced the project launch in Cebu without the Commonwealth proof of concept.

Mayor Tommy sneered about P-Noy’s requirement because as he puts it, the BRT concept had been proven over 30 years ago in many countries, including Curitiba in Brazil. Tommy is confident they would have had that BRT, as good as Curitiba’s, if the national government let them do it a long time ago.

I googled the Curitiba project and this is what I found out. “The bus system of Curitiba, Brazil, exemplifies a model Bus Rapid Transit system, and plays a large part in making this a livable city.

“The buses run frequently—some as often as every 90 seconds—and reliably, and the stations are convenient, well-designed, comfortable, and attractive. Consequently, Curitiba has one of the most heavily used, yet low-cost, transit systems in the world.

“It offers many of the features of a subway system—vehicle movements unimpeded by traffic signals and congestion, fare collection prior to boarding, quick passenger loading and unloading—but it is above ground and visible. Around 70 percent of Curitiba’s commuters use the BRT to travel to work, resulting in congestion-free streets and pollution-free air for the 2.2 million inhabitants of greater Curitiba.”

I asked Tommy how the announced BRT project in Cebu is getting along and he said it isn’t. Nothing is moving and I guess he is right to blame the Imperial DOTC boys in Manila who have no idea how to make that project work in Cebu.

It is right for the Cebuanos to hope Duterte will change all that. Maybe incoming Transport secretary Art Tugade will work with Mayor Tommy to move the project along.

Traffic congestion in Cebu is approaching Manila madness. Addressing it should be part of the emergency powers Art Tugade should get to resolve Metro Manila traffic congestion. Otherwise, he will have Cebu as an additional headache on top of worrying about Metro Manila’s daily carmageddon.

Tommy is all out in supporting Duterte’s anti crime focus. He also sees it as the foundation of future economic growth. He has his own anti crime drive in Cebu, offering rehabilitation to drug users he sees as victims and bounty for police officers who kill the most notorious pushers.

Tommy is hopeful about Duterte and he even urged me to help the new administration get going to show what they can do. As he puts it, we can’t go on like this, which is why Duterte got elected.

Going back to the economic briefing, I told the Cebuano businessmen in so many words that overall, I see a hopeful nation anticipating Duterte’s assumption of leadership. But I also see a divided nation. The viciousness of partisans from both divides is a major handicap for national development.

I hope to see more effort on the part of a president-elect Duterte to unite our people. It shouldn’t be the probinsyanos from the south versus Imperial Manila. We are all Filipinos, under one flag, with one country we all love. If we can work a little harder on this unity aspect, the next six years could be like nothing we imagined possible.

Boo Chanco’s e-mail address is [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter @boochanco.