A political tragedy called Robredo

Call it a political tragedy of the yellowtards. Three weeks ago, Vice President Leni Robredo literally surprised the pro-Duterte camp and even her own supporters by accepting the position as co-chairperson of the Inter-Agency Committee on Anti-Illegal Drugs people expected that she had something up her sleeve to surprise everyone that she was truly capable of solving the issues surrounding the anti-drug campaign.

However, what she did was merely hold press conferences with various agencies, like the one when she said that there would be no killings in the anti-drug war. To my mind, that announcement should not have been made simply because the war on drugs cannot be won by words, but by violence because drug lords are well-armed and use violence in keeping their turf.

Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Salvador Panelo said that Robredo’s services were “terminated” after she and Sen. Francis Pangilinan, head of the opposition Liberal Party, “taunted” Duterte to fire her. This should be a lesson to all to never taunt Duterte, especially when he knows how to fight the anti-drug war. I would like to believe Duterte decided to fire Robredo when she asked for the list of the top drug lords in the country. Too many people know that this was very sensitive information, which Robredo didn’t need at this point when she really hasn’t done anything to stop drugs.

In the end, Panelo said Robredo blew an “offer to make the campaign against illegal drugs better,” wherein the opposition and administration could have united in fighting drugs. How true. All we heard from Robredo was that she was going to invite the UN to a briefing and in fact briefed the US officials on the anti-drug campaign in the country. All she needed to do was to watch TV shows on Netflix about El Chapo or “Narcos” and she would have known what the US did in Latin America’s war on drugs.

Panelo added, “Unfortunately, she wasted such opportunity and used the same as a platform to attack the methods undertaken by the administration.” Since accepting her appointment on Nov. 6, Robredo has been meeting with officials of various agencies under ICAD as well as representatives of the US government and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. What Robredo did was get herself always in the front page of all national newspapers, something that she never had when she was not involved in the anti-drug campaign. Now, she is back to her usual unimportant self.

Frankly speaking, I’m glad Duterte fired Robredo while she really hasn’t done anything yet, so that the war on drugs can resume to the worry of the drug lords. We take this issue against Robredo as a lesson to Filipinos that she isn’t really the person we need for such an important position.

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One of the best announcements to come from Cebu City Hall was when Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said the city would no longer sell lots at the South Road Properties (SRP) as it would prefer joint development with investors. He said the benefit of a joint venture agreement is that the city gets to retain ownership of the property and get a share of the income while the lot is with the private developer.

I fully agree with this because Cebu, as a brand name, has already become very popular among investors and the SRP has already gotten the top developers of this country that there is no longer any need for the city to sell land in SRP.

I understand that a Singapore-based company, The Harbour Group, wants to develop a portion of the SRP. The firm sent its proposal for a public-private partnership to Labella last September 30. In its letter, the company said it plans to build infrastructure like real estate, a casino, a commercial shopping center, and a resort at the SRP. This Singapore-based company clearly has the money to invest in the SRP, but most certainly they can no longer invest in Singapore as they have run out of land to develop. Naturally, Cebu’s SRP is on top of its list.

For sure, there are more foreign investors looking out for places to plunk their investments. At this point, allow me to inform you that since 2003, the Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority has leased out the Waterfront Hotel for 75 years and MCIAA still has ownership.