I already read the letter from Department of Transportation (DOTr) Secretary Arthur Tugade to Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez seeking for the cancellation of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) for the reasons that have been debated by those who believe BRT will only worsen traffic in Cebu City because it reduces the roads for motorists to use since the BRT would have exclusive lanes. More so that there is an LRT being proposed from Carcar to Danao City.
I understand that there is a very important meeting this Wednesday with the technical board of the National Economic Development Authority in Manila to discuss the fate of the BRT. As I've pointed out in previous columns, the BRT's gestation period just took so long, and more importantly the BRT lost precious six years under the Aquino Regime which literally put this project on hold.
To better understand our current situation, let me tell you that when the first Light Rail Transit (LRT) was constructed in the City of Manila, which started in the '70s from Monumento to Baclaran, it was a Manila-to-Manila mass transit project. Back then, Makati was emerging to become a major business hub, but then Escolta was still the place of business. For the sake of argument, if the LRT was not implemented in 1970 and only implemented today, I'll bet you that the people living in Parañaque, Pasay, or Makati would complain that they are not included in that LRT project. This is why the LRT has been expanded from LRT 1, 2, and 3 not to mention that Makati has the Metro Rail Transit (MRT).
If the BRT had been approved by then Pres. Benigno "PNoy" Aquino then it would have been a working mass transit for Cebu City and perhaps the arguments would be where to extend the BRT to include Mandaue City or Talisay City. But today the BRT, despite its enormous cost, is only a Cebu City project; hence you cannot blame our fellow Cebuanos who are elated by the reports that a consortium is proposing a Carcar to Danao LRT.
We cannot blame Mayor Tomas Osmeña for fighting for the BRT; after all, he doesn't really care for the people living outside Cebu City because they are not his constituents. It is a fact that Osmeña wants to exclude Cebu City from the Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB). Truth to tell, I don't recall Osmeña attending a meeting with the MCDCB because he doesn't believe in this body.
The MCDCB is a coordinating body composed of 13 local government units in Metro Cebu; Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu, Danao, Talisay, Carcar, Naga, Cebu City, Consolacion, Liloan, Cordova, Minglanilla, Compostela, and San Fernando. Its objective is for the development and sustainability of short- and long-term projects and programs that would be beneficial to Metro Cebu.
In this day and age, perhaps Osmeña should understand that old phrase "No man is an island." But then Osmeña's politics is from his father's era, where the Osmeñas ruled Cebu because no one was smarter than them. Perhaps Osmeña should reconsider his stand and become a player because Cebu needs everyone to be on board when we are finally getting our mass transit projects for Cebu.
The bigger news for us in Cebu is what the DPWH presented a total of P8-trillion worth of infrastructure projects during the Philippine Economic Briefing held in Cebu last week. DPWH-7 Director for Planning Services Constante Llanes Jr. described the DPWH's infrastructure programs as the most ambitious in history.
According to Llanes, the Visayas regions were allocated P95.51 billion worth of projects this year, P34.90 billion of which was given to Region 7. The budget, however, is only for regular infrastructure and does not include big-ticket projects. The other projects in Cebu that are already in the pipeline include the Metro Cebu Integrated Flood Control and Drainage System Master plan with an estimated funding requirement of P33.5 billion. The drainage master plan covers Danao City, Compostela, Liloan, and Consolacion in the north and Mandaue City, Cebu City, Talisay City, Lapu-Lapu City, Minglanilla, Naga City, San Francisco, and Carcar City in the south. Another project is the 73.8-km Metro Cebu Expressway which is a high-standard arterial road starting from Naga City to Danao City.