Falling short

I have been in Manila last month and this month and now I am ready to say that the traffic situation in Metro Cebu is worse than that of our nation’s capital. At least in Metro Manila there are several alternative secondary routes that one could take when traffic builds up in a major thoroughfare.

In Metro Cebu, you’re literally stuck in traffic and have no other secondary road to turn to, even a much longer way, in order to get to your destination. No doubt, traffic in our city has considerably lessened the quality of our lives.

A study by the Japan International Cooperation Agency revealed last year that traffic congestion is costing Metro Cebu P1.5 billion in economic losses a day. That’s P547 billion a year.

I could compare that huge figure in losses with the amount of public infrastructure and human resource investments that are being provided or are in the pipeline. My conclusion is that we are skimping on public transport infrastructure.

While the ratio of public infrastructure spending to GDP in the country has steadily increased in the past few years, it’s obvious that the current ratio of 6% of GDP is still not enough. Consider also that a substantial portion of such public spending is lost to corruption.

I also heard on the radio yesterday that economist Cielito Habito has warned that the Duterte administration’s “Build, Build, Build” program is in danger of a serious shortfall if the government agencies tasked to implement it continue to underspend.

Habito urged the government to tap the PPP or Private-Public Partnership method in order to get things moving. Otherwise, relying on agencies in charge of public infrastructure projects like the DPWH, with its limited absorptive capacity, will result in serious delays of projects.

The term “absorptive capacity” means the ability of an agency to maximize the use of available financial resources. Simply put, poor absorptive capacity is having the cash but not having much of the means to find and mobilize the actual resources in exchange for that cash. For economist Habito, it is the private sector which is the better mobilizer.

According to a previous study by the Philippine Institute for Development Studies, poor absorptive capacity is a result of several factors. Among these factors in the public transportation sector, for example, are acquisition of road right of way, bad performance of contractors (in many instances as a result of rigged public biddings), and poor monitoring and supervision of projects.

Other key causes of poor public infrastructure spending are the low and untimely allotment release by the Department of Budget and Management, and poor coordination among local government units and national government agencies.

On top of all these factors is the Big C – Corruption. The amount of money in the hands of inept and corrupt government officials is never equal to the same amount of money in the hands of efficient and honest public servants and private developers.

The value of objects, products, human networks, and resources that money can buy depends on the people using it in a corresponding social milieu. Of what much use would your P100 be, for example, in a market full of sellers who habitually betray and cheat their customers.

Going back to Metro Cebu’s traffic, every time I’m stuck or stalled in traffic, many questions run through my mind.

Who hired these incompetent traffic enforcers in two northern towns where I often pass by? Why are local governments not spending enough for their training? Why are local governments still allowing trisikads and tricycles to ply on public highways?

For years, why has the government not thought of borrowing money or tapping PPP to build a south and north expressway where I can enter in Cebu City and exit in Danao City or Carcar City non-stop? The benefit in increased mobility and economic activity would have more than quickly offset the cost of building such a highway.

Who is monitoring and regulating the increasing number of private cars on the road? Where are we now in our public mass transportation plan?

Why do we always fall short? Ah yes, corruption – that two-headed monster of greed and short-sightedness – where the perennial question is: What’s in it for me and the people loyal to me?

I think this “what’s in it for me” attitude is what’s ultimately causing our public transportation woes.