Priority issues before and after elections 2022

As Cebu City bids farewell to Mayor Edgardo Labella and send him off with prayers for his eternal rest and peace with God, the city continues to be faced with priority issues.

These include, among others, 1.) The need for people-responsive leadership and governance, 2.) The urgent/immediate/long-term domestic needs for food/housing/clean/sanitary water and environment/jobs/health and other protective services of city constituents especially the marginalized/vulnerable, and, 3.) The need for Cebu City to confront, with decisive, positive climate action, the urgent global issue of accelerating global warming.

From here on, can Mayor Mike Rama and VM Dondon Hontiveros and the Cebu City Council effectively respond to these priority issues before and after elections?

Do you think the present change in pre-election leadership will make a difference in resolving priority domestic and global needs confronting Cebu City and the people?

If Mayor Mike and VM Dondon will assert political will, will they be able to stem, even partially, the multiple crises experienced by Cebu City’s poor constituents?

This is a laudable challenge not only for them but for the rest of the local officials, especially from the dominant majority party.

Can all present officials choose to work together, agree on domestic and global priority issues, and respond to these in a comprehensive, systematic, coordinated manner and with appropriate funding and implementation?

Can their united partnership result in immediate positive steps in resolving domestic and global priority issues between now and the elections, or continue beyond the elections?

Can the present officials seriously unite/take time to sit down and address even just the problem of hunger/poverty and global warming between now and the elections?

Given available city resources, can they all agree/unite about what they can all do now together for the needy in their communities and for the environment/planet?

First suggestion please, re Cebu City’s contribution to fight global warming.

Immediately, the Cebu City officials can decide and facilitate the immediate implementation and funding of Councilor Alvin Dizon’s City Ordinance 2590 otherwise known as the Ordinance creating the Cebu City United Nations Sustainable Development Goals Council (UNSDG), passed on November 4, 2020 and signed by then Mayor Labella December 10, 2020.

As all the three priority issues mentioned earlier are part of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the Cebu City UNSDG can, right away, assist the Cebu City government to a.) Concretize the implementation of the SDGs, b.) Align its legislation, programs and policies with the UNSDGs, c.) Monitor SDGs progress at the local level, and, d.) Be in solidarity and contribute to the “universal call to action to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that by 2030.”

Second suggestion please, re Cebu City officials’ response and action towards priority domestic issues of immediate/sustainable food supply and sustenance.

Not in a dole-out/ayuda fashion but in a more participative system/network of partnership.

The present officials may wish to consider tapping wastes as the resource that can provide immediate/sustainable food and sustenance to Cebu City residents and communities.

Wastes are abundant in every household and community, and free.

If recognized/tapped and managed properly, households can immediately start with food wastes to produce compost to raise/grow vegetables. Within weeks, households can have fast-growing veggies to eat. If they produce more than they need, they can sell/share these veggies and compost they produce.

Paper/plastics/bottles/metals/other waste types can also be, among others, recycled into items for building houses, providing solar/water supply, or for sale or waste trading/banking.

Even without budget or upon immediate approval/release of unspent billions intended for waste management/Material Recovery Facility, officials can jumpstart community-based waste initiatives and immediately address urgent challenges like food/livelihood/others, even climate change

United, city officials have clear options to address priority domestic and global issues.