Leaving a large shoe for Gov. Davide to fill

On our special presentation on our talk show on Straight from the Sky tonight, we bring you a discussion on the traffic and bridges of Metro Cebu… with Archt. Yumi Espina, Dean of Architecture at the University of San Carlos (USC) and Marc Canton of the Livable Cebu Movement.

There is no question that the traffic in Metro Cebu has started to become unbearable. The Banilad-Talamban Road is fast turning into Cebu’s EDSA, something that we already warned our political leaders five years ago. There are times along Escario St. that traffic is from end to end even at 3:00pm which is not yet even the rush hour.

We already presented the solutions five years ago, but the Department of Public Works & Highways (DPWH) doesn’t seem to be in a hurry, and proof of the pudding is in the eating if you looked at M. Velez St. beside the Cebu Provincial Capitol, which is a road widening that began during my final year as CITOM Chief in 2004. This brings us to the question… what does it take for DPWH to speed things up? Why do we have to wait for the final hour when the traffic congestion is no longer bearable? These are things that can be planned so that Cebu will have a better future. But doesn’t anyone care?

If you looked at the history of the bridges that spanned the Cebu mainland and Mactan Island, the first bridge was constructed way back when Martial Law was declared. That dream of the late Sen. Serging Osmeña Jr. was realized by Pres. Ferdinand E. Marcos and it gave Cebu an international airport now under the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIAA).

In 1986, right after the EDSA Revolt, then Pres. Corazon Aquino approved the construction of the second bridge called the Marcelo Fernan Bridge. From its inception to its inauguration, it took nearly 12 years before it could open and it was inaugurated during the term of Pres. Joseph “Erap” Estrada.      

But even at the height of the construction of the Fernan Bridge, I was already asking the RDC to conceptualize the 3rd link from the Cebu mainland to Mactan. But this time, we wanted a link that would no longer pass the City of Mandaue as traffic has been herded there. So the big question is… why isn’t a 3rd bridge not in the pipeline today when we needed it yesterday?

This is exactly what Archt. Yumi Espina and Marc Canton and I will be discussing in today’s show. So watch this very interesting show on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00pm with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time and channel. MyTV also replays this show on channel 30 at 9:00pm on M-W-F.

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Last Friday, we witnessed the smooth turnover of power from Governor  Gwen  F.  Garcia to Governor-elect Hilario “Jun Jun” Davide III. As I got into the Social Hall, the official from the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) was saying that this was a historic event. On the contrary, there was never a time when the transfer of power from an outgoing governor to an incoming governor was ever in question.

If at all it was historic, it is only because after nine years or three terms in power, Gov. Garcia was leaving the Provincial Capitol in a most peaceful and orderly manner unlike the way when she was literally shooed away from the Office of the Governor last Dec.17, 2012 which was the wrong way to get rid of a governor. But you can see that Gov. Gwen went overboard in detailing her achievements under her nine years as the leader in Cebu Province.

As she went through the Powerpoint presentation of her nine years as governor… one could only wonder what went through the mind of Gov. Jun Jun Davide as Gov. Gwen’s accomplishments were mind boggling, while Gov. JunJun is just starting off as governor.

There is no doubt that the accomplishments of Gov. Gwen Garcia from the year 2004-2013 are very impressive. While there may have been negatives like the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC), a favorite topic of her critics… in the end, Cebu needs that convention center especially now that Cebu would also be part of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit in 2015. Then there’s the Balili issue that her critics have always pounded against her. But only history will judge if this case was wrong for the Province of Cebu because as her Powerpoint presentation showed, it would become a great revenue generator for the Province of Cebu.

 In leaving the Provincial Capitol, Gov. Gwen with over P5 billion in assets and nearly a billion in cash in the bank, Gov. Gwen has left a large shoe for Gov. Jun Jun to fill. All we need now for him to do is become our governor who is nobody’s puppet. The bone of contention between Gov. Gwen and Tomas Osmeña was the Ciudad project. Perhaps a revival of this project will show to Cebuanos that Gov. Jun Jun Davide is his own man and it would earn the Province P1,200 million a month. That would be a great way to start the first year of Gov. Jun Jun Davide. Good luck, Governor!

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