A great expectation

We may not realize it, but 83 is the number that represents another scourge of Cebu City. This is the number Mayor Edgardo Labella talked about few days ago. After flashfloods ravaged the former Mango Avenue, the mayor directed appropriate city government offices under him to investigate the cause of the rampaging of the extraordinary volume of water through Gen Maxilom Avenue. I like to believe that Mayor Labella was more horrified by the occurrence of the flood than the huge damage it inflicted. He must have thought that there should be a way to prevent its recurrence. That was why he wanted to know the cause of the flashflood.

 In a press conference, Labella revealed that there are at least 83 buildings that are erected on the city’s natural waterways or on the three meters of the riverbanks that are legal easements. The mayor did not, of course, say that these structures were built upon the tolerance, if not with the silent assent, of past mayors. What I mean is that Labella has had no hand in these illegal structures. If these buildings are largely the cause of the problem in the form of the unprecedented floods that hit the city three Tuesdays ago, the mayor is only an heir of a huge problem.

Many of these houses of light materials are, with no offense meant, the homes of informal settlers. In our social paradigm, these people are migrants to our city and possess no piece of land. Because they have no place of their own, they are forced by necessity to build on riverbanks. Yes, they know that they impede the flow of water and therefore contribute to the flooding of our city but, where else can they go. To them, putting a cover over their heads is their foremost concern.

Some of the other buildings are reportedly owned by rich and presumably influential families. For one reason or another, their building plans got the approval of the city engineers. Why permits were issued for buildings to rise in prohibited areas are subject to speculation. The personnel who were directed by the mayor to investigate reported to him findings which are facts we already know. Indeed, these buildings are made of concrete with their columns either built on the riverbeds or in the three-meter easements. We cannot see the flowing water anymore because the air space on top of the river has been appropriated. A clear example is on the Mahiga River. I live in Barangay Kasambagan not far from the boundary with Mandaue City. Right after the bridge that links these two cities is a tall structure. It is on the side of Mandaue City and therefore not the problem of Labella. On the side facing Cebu City, everyone can see that the building stands on the three-meter easement.

Labella has to exercise the kind of political will that his predecessors failed to demonstrate. When he does, I believe that 83 out of every 100 Cebuanos will be thankful to him. What a great expectation from a numerical coincidence!