Barangay Apas residents have been blessed

Of the three major activities that House Speaker Gloria Macapagal Arroyo attended, one was the public hearing for Barangay Apas. Her first activity when she got into Cebu City was the formal signing of the Sugbu Chinese Museum. This was the project in the Gotiaoco Building just across the Cebu City Hall. Almost all old Chinese families of Cebu were there. In her speech, the former president and now House speaker said what many people already mentioned; that there is no Chinatown in Cebu because the whole city is run by Chinese businessmen.

After that historic event, Arroyo went to the Cebu Ports Authority for the public hearing on transportation headed by Representative Cesar Sarmiento. He is apparently the brother of Comelec Commissioner Rene Sarmiento and this election he is running for governor of Catanduanes. While there were no new roll on/roll off vessels that were launched, at least a study on new ro-ro ports of call are underway. This is close to GMA’s heart as her flagship project when she was president was the Strong Republic Nautical Highway.

Since it was already lunchtime and I had an important meeting, I didn’t go to Barangay Apas anymore knowing that this would be in the news today. Indeed, after 16 years of legal battle, about 4,000 residents in five sitios of Barangay Apas, particularly near the Central Command headquarters have a bright future ahead of them as National Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana has signed a compromise agreement that will enable residents to buy the properties and start negotiating their prices with the Cebu provincial government.

This was the result of the public hearing of the House Oversight Committee on Housing and Urban and Development headed by Negros Occidental Representative Alfredo Benitez at the Centcom Headquarters in Camp Lapu-Lapu. The lots, totaling 32 hectares, are located within the boundary of AFP-CentCom, spanning seven sitios, including Santo Niño, Mahayahay, Upper Panabang, Plaza, Central Apas, Rotunda, and Calvary Hills.

To recall, Capitol donated 80 hectares or 47 parcels of land to the Armed Forces of the Philippines in October 1959.

Speaker Gloria Arroyo was at the hearing in Apas yesterday, and she told reporters that the solicitor-general can tell the court about the compromise reached by the two parties, being the representative of the Department of National Defense. In short, thanks to Arroyo, the residents of Apas can look forward to a better future. This is good for my friend former barangay captain Ramil Ayuman.

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We’ve already written our warning articles against the administration of Governor Hilario Davide III and these are warnings from friends who have experience in these issues as to construction costs. These are friends who read my column in PhilStar.com and they are very much against corruption and find it surprising Davide is playing this kind of game. We already wrote, including all the other newspapers, that the National Historical Commission of the Philippines is not supporting the project because it will be built right beside the old Capitol building, which is considered a protected historical landmark.

In his speech during the groundbreaking ceremony for the 20-story resource center, Davide insists it is seen to generate income for the province. He also acknowledges the resistance and opposition to the project, which ranges from questions on design and cost, as well as its impact on heritage conservation. He didn’t call this project his flagship project when his term is about to end. He also didn’t mention that a building of that height would worsen the traffic along Escario Street because Davide doesn’t care if Cebuanos get dizzy with more traffic congestion that the building would generate.

Recently, taxpayer Crisologo Saavedra filed a case against Davide and other Capitol officials for entering into a contract without authority from the Provincial Board. That Davide used the same contractor he chastised for building the Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City was quite intriguing. But I’m sure Davide is relying on his father’s friends in the Supreme Court to help him when the time comes if someone has the guts to file a case against him for this project. For a governor with three terms with practically no performance, suddenly he is performing something that so many people are telling him not to do.

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