Connecting places with bridges

Last Thursday, President Rodrigo Duterte visited Cebu to attend the ceremonial groundbreaking of the bridge that will link the town of Cordova and the City of Cebu. It is to be called the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway, a public-private partnership with toll fees when it will be used. The gameplan is for it to be managed under the private company for thirty-five years. After which, the local government will be the ones to manage the facility.

When I visited the town of Cordova yesterday, several people who showed their apprehensions regarding the development were fish vendors and fisherfolks. They fear that with the developments in their area, they will lose their patrons and eventually lose business. The church in the town has felt the direction of development and will offer their facilities and services to train people useful skills. It is still a plan in the making, but eventually it will be implemented.

This will all be successful if residents will also adapt to the changes. If they will embrace the future and go with the flow of the moving forward of the times then there wouldn't be any problem at all. Of course, the birth of this third bridge will not only open opportunities but might sever ties between locals and those interested to invest.

I have also talked to those who welcome this development. They are those who have dreams to make their place above the rest, at par with the current metropolis in Cebu. Although they admit that there will be woes to this, it will be all worth it. Some of the problems that they are looking into are traffic jams and garbage disposal.

Bridges are infrastructure projects that can do so much. There are plans of bridging the province of Cebu and Bohol. As for me who travels back and forth between both provinces, I have a feeling that this will make Visayas a more progressive area than it is now.  All the more we will reap the benefits of connecting places when Leyte will be included in the picture.

The Philippines is an archipelago, composed of many islands with different strengths and weaknesses. If we are linked to one another by these bridges then we can exchange culture, make business transactions easier, and be one with our fellowmen. Talking with one another will be easier, so will be finding solutions to common problems among places.

I am personally excited at how Cebu is growing so rapidly. It has been my home since and I have no plans of moving yet as I want to witness all that is happening. There is so much that has happened in the past. Cebu is a place of history, culture and also a rising tiger in development. I cannot wait to drive through the new bridges and reach out to others. I could only imagine how we can make our way to carving out a new phase in our history. Way to go, Cebu!

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