Stop or Proceed?: BRT’s destiny up to Labella

CEBU, Philippines —  The fate of the Bus Rapid Transit project now lies on the incoming administration in Cebu City and the Department of Transportation, according to outgoing City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete.

While hoping that mayor-elect Edgardo Labella’s government will push through with the project, Villarete said he will let the new mayor decide the fate of the project.

“It’s no longer in our hands. Transition to a new government means that you have to give the new administration the full…decisions on what to do with the project. So, if they don’t want the BRT which their body language already said so during the campaign that they don’t like the BRT, they will be the one to stop it,” Villarete said.

When he assumes office noontime of June 30, Labella and his administration are expected to review the implementation of the project.

During the campaign period, Labella already expressed reservations on the project, especially along the Escario Street wherein the four lanes will be reduced to two lanes since the other two lanes will be dedicated only to the buses of the BRT system.

Villarete said the project has been studied and reviewed over the past 10 years.

The concern of the critics that the traffic congestion will worsen along Escario road is not a concern of the project since people will be enticed not to use their private cars as soon as the BRT will be fully operational, he said.

“I can only wish that they would continue it. At some time or another both vice mayor-elect Michael Rama and mayor-elect Labella were supportive of BRT. They have changed. I don’t know what made them change their minds. Maybe they have seen some flaws in it or somebody have changed their minds because somebody doesn’t like the project,” Villarete said.

Last year, the DOTr and the Office of the Presidential Assistant for Visayas chief Michael Lloyd Dino moved for the cancellation of the project citing narrow roads, among other issues.

But the National Economic and Development Authority has yet again greenlighted the project because of its “feasibility and viability.”

With this, DOTr included BRT project in the Integrated Inter-Modal Transport System (IITS) for Metro Cebu which aims to improve the traffic situation in the metro.

Villarete said he also hopes that DOTr will stand by its decision to push through with the BRT, along with the other transportation and infrastructure projects of the IITS.

Should the national government decide to cancel its loan with the World Bank and other banks, Villarete said there would be penalties. That is why, he said, pulling out from the deal should be studied well.

“They will be holding the range of government starting July 1. It’s their call now. Our common goal is to serve the people. We might have different ideas on how to do it, our idea is to serve the mobility of the people through the Bus Rapid Transit and theirs would be different, we don’t know,” he said.

“You can either support the BRT or not and you cannot say you support but..there’s a certain but. That means that you don’t because that’s a finish project, a project that has been studied over and over again in the last 10 years,” he added.

Villarete said the P16-billion budget for the BRT cannot be used for other projects since it is a loan.

As of now, the BRT contractor is finalizing the detailed engineering design of the whole project.

Villarete said there’s a concern raised during the meeting last week whether or not to retain the design contractor or get a new one because of the delays in getting information from them.

If all plans will be implemented, the full commercial operational of the BRT will happen before June 2022.

If any of the plans will be delayed and hampered, another target completion will be imposed.

But Villarete is hopeful that DOTr will make good its earlier pronouncement that the city will have an LRT and BRT in 2020 unless the next administration will contradict the department. —  JMD  (FREEMAN)