Bridge repairs worsen Cebu traffic

These are times that vacationers should avoid Cebu, except if you are staying in any hotel or resort in Mactan. Yes, I shouldn’t be saying this because Cebuanos especially in the tourism sector needs your business, however I must admit that traffic in Metro Cebu especially if you are coming or going to the Mactan International Airport (MCIA) Cebu City has become unbearable to the point that as you ride your car or taxi from the arrival area in Mactan, you can barely move because the bad traffic starts from there! This was unreal for me, but it is the reality that we saw the other day!

Thanks to the five years of neglect by President Benigno “P-Noy” Aquino III who once boasted last Aug. 25th that he poured P25 billion for infrastructure development in the last five years in Cebu, but when we double checked the records of DPWH, it was only P2.3 billion in rehabilitation projects. But the repairs on the old Mactan Bridge have only worsened Cebu’s already bad traffic. What we really needed are three flyovers that would have moved traffic smoothly to and from Mactan. But Pres. Aquino gave us nothing.

Now our political leaders are trying to find solutions to our three-hour trips to and from Mactan and the only alternative we can find is to revive the old barges that cross the Mactan Channel from Mandaue City. Thanks to Cebuano politicians belonging to the Liberal Party for denying Cebu the infrastructure we needed in the last five years. They won’t get our votes!

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Yup… the 2016 presidential race is off to a crawling start simply because of the reality that exists today… that the top choices for President are very below par for a nation that should be preparing itself to take the lead among ASEAN nations. I mean, just look at the choices of the Filipino voter today. There’s the sickly, but still feisty Sen. Miriam Defensor Santiago, who is supposed to be the smartest of the bunch until she made a big booboo saying that she is against federalism! She just lost my vote!

Then there is Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte,  who for us south of Luzon should be the perfect candidate, especially because he is the only one selling the idea of a Federal Philippines. Until he lost his marbles and personally attacked Pope Francis, the Catholic Church, openly declaring his support for the ill-fated Bangsamoro Basic Law (BBL), same sex marriage, the RH Law, divorce and openly supports the CPP/NPA. He too lost my vote even if he campaigns using Binisaya! Worse, this fellow is a self-declared sex predator, unashamedly kissing his supporters on the lips, something that proper presidential candidates would never dare do!

Then there is Vice President Jejomar Binay, whose main problem is the corruption cases that have dragged his name into the mud. The strange thing is he is still leading in the polls, simply because the ordinary Filipino has lost his morality. As St. Pope John Paul II once said, “The biggest sin of all is the lost of the sense of sin!” The biggest unanswered question that voters ought to ask is, “If VP Binay gets elected President, can the Ombudsman suspend or even convict him while in Office? Does he have immunity from suit, especially a suit that was filed before he became President?”

Then there is Sen. Grace Poe. Her attackers belittle her being a foundling and I submit that foundlings found in this country should automatically become Filipino citizens because it is not their fault that their mothers abandoned them. Should the State abandon them as well? I have tried to sell the idea of a federal Philippines to Sen. Poe, but she is still too focused on her legal impediments. People are just waiting in the wings for her to be cleared and finally join the Presidential race without any obstacles.

Then there is former DILG Sec. Manuel “Mar” Roxas, who was my first guest on my talkshow Straight from the Sky when we began our television career. I would have been a Mar Roxas follower until he gave up his chances by bowing to P-Noy in the 2010 presidential elections. There was no doubt that Mar Roxas was a superior personality vis-à-vis the non-performing Senator Noynoy Aquino. But he blew it. Then came Yolanda and the real Mar Roxas surfaced to the dismay of the Filipino voter. Today… people are still asking me…why is he still running? He has not improved his ratings no matter what he does.

With this Presidential race now on full swing… people whom I meet with always ask me if I already have a Presidential candidate? My answer to them is…nope, I just can’t find the right one now. I’m seeking a candidate who will usher a real change in our political way of life…where political butterflies should become illegal…where powerful politicians who misuse our tax money should be jailed without bail, where the Comelec would adhere to real honest and credible elections. But as of now, no one fits the bill!

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