No one should sabotage the Sinulog fiesta
I read in The FREEMAN last Wednesday that the Sinulog Foundation Inc. will not be receiving money from the Cebu City government for the Sinulog celebration next year. This news came from no less than former SFI chairman, Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who said that the P35 million allotted for the festival "will be kept by the city government and somebody from the city government will be the one to personally disburse the amount." If this report is true and if the Sinulog festival becomes a failure, then the Cebuano populace would point at Rama who, as vice mayor, should provide the funds so that the SFI can operate. So is this Rama’s way of sabotaging the Sinulog? We will soon find out.
Everybody knows that Rama resigned from the SFI and it was quite noble for him to do so. Unfortunately, there seems to be some kind of political agenda happening behind the Sinulog festival these days that never existed in past years. I doubt Rama is always thinking in terms of his political agenda. Unfortunately, it is not in tune with the present situation in City Hall today.
At this point, let me say that there is no official break yet between Rama and City Mayor Edgar Labella, simply because elections are just too far away. In fairness to Labella, he is working hard to solve our problems like getting those compactor garbage trucks that Cebu City needed so much. But there are still so many things to do. For instance, it’s high time we finally solve our water problems. We cannot go on with Cebu’s economic development without finding ways to bring water into Cebu City. This should be Labella’s priority!
Then there are the roads that I wrote about in this corner yesterday that former mayor Tomas Osmeña didn’t care to solve. I’m referring to Echavez Street from the corner of Mango Avenue then after the bridge that goes toward Sikatuna Street. That road needs to be widened if we are going to solve our traffic problems. Then there is the entrance to Escario Street extension, which I already wrote was easy for DPWH to widen so that this road can go straight to the main Escario Street.
So far, Labella hasn’t touched on this. Then Cebu City hasn’t complained to the DPWH why the parallel road to Escario Street would still be funded from the General Appropriations Act in 2022. Why can’t we complain and have it approved next year? These are just some of the few things for Labella to do in the next three years. If he solves this problem then his re-election is ensured.
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Still on issues about Cebu City. I was on my way to Mactan early evening last Tuesday, then it rained hard in Cebu City, but when I entered the Marcelo Fernan Bridge, the road was so dry which means that it did not rain there. However our motorcycle group, the Road Brothers, sent to my messenger a video of the flooding that affected the road along D. Jakosalem Street in front of the Sacred Heart Center. So how did that part of D. Jakosalem Street become flooded last Tuesday?
Mango Avenue was my place of residence since we got hold of the paternal home of Don Jose Avila, which is now the JESA IT building. For those who didn’t live in Cebu 50 years ago, they don’t know that when it rains, the water collects along Juana Osmeña Street in front of our Century Plaza Complex and from there it empties into the Taup area, which in the old days was a low area of Mango Avenue where there was the remains of an old house until the Taft Properties built its Horizons 101 building. However I would like to believe that the Gaisanos who own this condo prepared part of their property to accept the rainwater from the higher part of Mango Ave.
So when the rains came last Tuesday, excess water from the underground canal of the 101 building or the Taft East Gate probably got clogged and the water rushed to the unnamed road beside the Sacred Heart Center and into D. Jakosalem St. and I believe the rainwater went to the area in front of Sacred Heart Church which is a very low area and probably rushed into the river passing through Imus area.
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