Once more DEPW is on the go fixing our roads
Will wonders ever cease? We've been writing columns about the sad state of our roads in Cebu City, which the Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) stated that they would finish by the end of December.
Naturally I kept on discussing this in my column in order to remind our city engineers of their promise to fix our roads. Well, last Tuesday was a wonder of wonders because DEPW asphalted the entire stretch of Juana Osmeña Street-from Escario Street to Ramon Aboitiz Street-near St. Theresa's College (STC). Of course it must be said that the rains brought about by typhoon Urduja prevented the DEPW from working. But with Urduja leaving the Philippine's area of responsibility (PAR), and with the sun shining once more, I'm sure that the DEPW would have to double their time in fixing our roads until the next typhoon comes, which would certainly bring back those torrential rains. But anyway, thanks DEPW for a job well done!
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We read about the discovery of a vintage bomb in a construction sit eat the Cebu IT Park in Barangay Apas. According to a news report, Cebu IT Park Administrator Jennifer Paglinawan called for an emergency evacuation of occupants of at least seven buildings in the area…up to a one-kilometer radius from the site where the bomb was found. If you ask me, it was overkill! Even if the bomb explodes, it would only be contained in a small area within a few hundred yards.
First of all, the Cebu IT Park sits on top of the old Lahug Airfield, which was a Japanese Air Base during World War II. It was called an airfield because there were no runways at that time. Old airplanes merely point to the direction of the wind and fly out. There were no control towers then, and pilots merely looked right or left to check if there were any other aircraft also trying to take off. After the war, Lahug Airfield became Cebu's only commercial airport and a runway was constructed using huge rocks.
Today this runway is located along Del Mar Avenue. Perhaps Paglinawan ought to secure photographs of the aerial bombing by US Consolidated B-24"Liberators" that bombed the LahugAirfield. Yes, Virginia, the Americans,not the Japanese, bombed Cebu! Perhaps what the IT Park officials ought to do is identify which areas have already been deemed "safe" while there are still many other areas that have not yet been excavated. Of course, there is nothing better than being safe than sorry.
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In just a couple of weeks, we will be celebrating the New Year 2018 and this only tells us that in a year's time (2019) it will be the mid-term elections. While it is still far off, I'm sure that 2018 will be the year for jockeying for political positions. Already the names of Communications Assistant Secretary Mocha or Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque were already floated as potential "senatoriables."
But I was taken by surprise reading the Dec.19th Postscript column of my fellow columnist Federico Pascual of the Philippine Star who gave a title for his column: "Speaker's wife set to run against him!" Now that was an interesting piece because during the 2016 campaign for the President, including his own candidacy, House Speaker Bebot Alvarez had the complete support of his wife Emelita Alvarez. But right after winning his congressional seat, and after the first State of the Nation Address (SONA), Alvarez dumped his wife of 30 years.
Allow me to reprint what Federico Pascual wrote last Dec.19: "Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez may have to take a detour to the Senatein 2019 instead of seeking reelection as congressman of the first district of Davao del Norte-if only to avoid an embarrassing collision with his estranged wife Emelita Apostol Alvarez. Davaoeños say that although Mrs. Alvarez defends her on political issues, she has been going around their home district apparently in preparation for her own election bid-if against her husband, so be it.Alvarez's wife is the chair and president of the Congressional Spouses Foundation Inc."
With this report from Pascual, it seems that the election year 2019 will be a most interesting mid-term election!
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