Thank you, 2019

Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma in his message for the New Year urged us to be grateful for the blessings and lessons we have received in 2019. In Cebu, there are so many things to be thankful for, and here’s a few off the top of my head.

The highlight for Cebu this year is the conduct of the local elections which saw pro-Duterte or Duterte-endorsed candidates taking the seat of power in the city and province. Regardless of our political leanings, we are thankful because the elections were relatively peaceful and mandates were transferred in an orderly manner. Let us be open to the changes in the political environment, yet continue to be vigilant and discerning in watching our public officials.

Another one to be thankful for is the drop in the crime rate in the city. According to the police, the number of crimes reported in Cebu City dropped in the last four months compared to the same period last year. Index crimes were down by 45.4% in September-October and 16% in November-December.

Yet we continue to hope and work within our power for Cebu to be totally free from extra-judicial killings and custodial deaths in 2020. We also pray for the resolution of numerous unsolved killings in Cebu including the brazen daylight attack by unidentified men against a handcuffed town mayor in a police convoy last October.

As a city resident since birth, I’ve experienced a couple of times being a victim of petty theft. What did I lose? A valuable thing or two. I have also seen the scourge of drug addiction afflicting a couple of friends and neighbors. What did they lose? Their future.

But in the past couple of years, Cebu has seen extrajudicial killings and custodial deaths, the perpetrators emboldened by the present political dispensation and the supposed righteousness of their cause. What did Cebu lose? Its soul.

So let me thank the Cebu Archdiocese for issuing last year an “Oratio Imperata” against extra-judicial killings and which I still regularly hear on my favorite radio station this year.

In public works, we are excited about the on-schedule completion of the third bridge to Mactan by August 2021. Earlier this month, the Cebu-Cordova Link Expressway (CCLEX) project reported a 47% completion rate. The eight-kilometer bridge is expected to decongest traffic in Metro Cebu and spur further economic activity in Cordova and the southern part of the metro.

Though the Bus Rapid Transit project remains a dream, Cebu City commuters got some breather this year with the introduction of the airconditioned “bus-jeeps” also known as “Beeps” and “People’s Jeep”. I’ve tried once riding a Beep from IT Park to City Hall and I was impressed by the comfort and convenience it offered to the riding public. No wonder these bus-jeeps are becoming popular.

Our Terminal 2 of the Mactan-Cebu International Airport also earned international accolades this year, becoming the winner in the Completed Buildings-Transport category in the prestigious annual World Architecture Festival. It is a fitting tribute and a perfect match to Cebu’s growing potential as a creative hub, Cebu City having been hailed by UNESCO as a “creative city of design” also this year.

Cebuanos have a lot more to be thankful for this year, and I will discuss some of them in future articles, including my own views about the direction of the city especially for its young population in the light of its “creative city of design” tag; but that’s it for now. Happy New Year dear readers!