In defense of Carbon - Part 6

The authority of the city mayor to enter into contracts does not come from itself but from the Cebu City Council, while the latter’s authority emanates from the people of Cebu City.

This is the wisdom on the need for the city council to review or recall the authority they gave to the city mayor of having entered into an agreement, in what is now known as the Joint Venture Agreement, otherwise known as the Devil’s Scroll.

This joint venture agreement hidden from public scrutiny with some city legislators failing to fully grasp how onerous and disadvantageous the provisions are, must redeem themselves before the future generations or Cebuano history will judge them as the Judases of Carbon and Cebu.

Carbon, a Cebuano heritage site, predating the Spanish colonizers, known as the Lutao District, is one the last standing armies of the Cebuano Soul. The project, however the legal mercenaries may call or brand it, is clearly a privatization. City officials will no longer have the power over Carbon for it has surrendered its sacred duty to a private entity.

The traitors of Cebu City Hall and the perpetrators of the defacement of Carbon, in an attempt to fool the stakeholders of the market, promised almost everything, including the moon and the stars. A sane man knows that saliva coming out from the mouth would dry and would have no effect as to the weight of what is written in the contract. The provisions among others are beyond dispute; the city will give up Carbon for a period of 50 years, extendable for another 25 years, with the private entity collecting fees and managing the whole area. It even has a proviso on the yearly increase of the spaces and stalls.

The issues raised on the need for the privatization of Carbon, like security, sanitization, drainage, and traffic could be addressed by the city itself, with all its vast resources. It is stupidity for the city to abrogate Carbon in favor of a private entity, on the problems they are raising which the city could and must solve, provided the officials are not infested with corruption, incompetence, and lack of skill and of foresight.

The City Council being servants of the Cebuanos must explain to the latter their votes, on why they are for or against the privatization of Carbon, disguised as a joint venture agreement. Their stand must be recorded, as part of Cebu’s history so the next generations would either see them as the pimps of the prostitution of Carbon or the Defenders of Carbon. God bless Cebu City. Long live the Cebuanos.