Why can’t I Google Philtram? Who are they?

Last Friday Mayor Tomas Osmeña signed a memorandum of agreement with Philtram Transportation Consortium, Inc. (PTCI) to study a proposal for a monorail system for Cebu City. I don’t want to rain on Mayor Osmeña’s parade, but I do have a very important question? Who is the consortium and who is its co-founder Arnold Ray Alagar?

In today’s times you can Google any information you need and since we don’t know who Philtram I checked his name and company in Google. The only thing that comes out in Google is the news story that was splashed in the local media in Cebu. If Cebu City has to embark on a major mass transit project, we should get top foreign companies with years of experience in running subways or railways. So again, who is Arnold Alagar or Philtram? Are they carpetbaggers who fooled Mayor Osmeña into signing that MOA with him? Perhaps Mayor Osmeña should tell us why he signed this MOA with Philtram?

*  *  *

The second runway for the Mactan-Cebu International Airport was a dream that I initiated nearly 20 years ago because I knew from the experience that Hong Kong had with their single-runway Kai Tak International Airport, which limited their tourism arrivals to only 6 million tourists per annum. Thus before the British returned Hong Kong to the People’s Republic of China, they embarked on a massive infrastructure project that leveled (using Cebuano labor) the island of Chep Lap Kok and turned it into what is now the Hong Kong International Airport and brought in some 20 million tourists to the former crown colony per year.

During those years that I’ve sought for a second runway in the Mactan airport, the bigwigs of the Department of Transportation and Communications would always tell me that we didn’t need yet a second runway. This is the kind of mentality that has allowed airport congestion at the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. These government bureaucrats without any vision for the future should not be allowed to achieve high-ranking status in such a vital government facility.

Well finally, the Mactan International Airport Authority Board approved the funding for the second runway for MCIA following the suggestion of Rep. Raul del Mar that P4.9-billion from the monies that the GMR-Megawide Cebu Airport Corporation paid from their P14.4-billion (that they paid for the 25-year contract to operate MCIA) fund be used for this runway project rather than go to the national treasury. At this point, I would like to know more details as to why this project would cost P4.9-billion. Transparency is the name of the game and it is imperative that the MCIA Board show transparency to the public so no one can say anything about this up and coming project.

We hope that the second runway be implemented as soon as possible, perhaps within the term of President Rodrigo “Digong” Duterte. This is the only way that Cebuanos can be assured of continuous economic growth well into 2050. Above all, just like what happened to Hong Kong, we could expect to triple or quadruple our tourist arrivals in Cebu when this runway becomes operational.

*  *  *

During the MEGA Cebu meeting, it was only then that I realized that the widening of the Tayud-Consolacion-Liloan Road was suspended due to delays in assessment values by the Cebu Provincial Assessor! This was reported last Friday by no less than Liloan Mayor Christina Garcia Frasco. I checked on the website of the Province of Cebu and learned that the Cebu Provincial Assessor’s Office is headed by Ms. Alma P. Sibonga. Perhaps Ms. Sibonga does not live near this area. But while I also do not live near there, I have passed this road so many times before and the traffic was horrific!

So you commuters out there, when you are stuck in traffic and are late for school or work and only curses leave your lips, don’t forget the name of Ms. Alma Sibonga. Perhaps rather than curse her, pray for her to speed up the assessment of those properties so that the Department of Public Works and Highways can speed up the release of the money to pay for the road widening project so the bad traffic can finally disappear.

*  *  *

For email responses to this article, write to [email protected] or [email protected]. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.