How can Cebu City become like Singapore?

William Shakespeare wrote through Portia in The Merchant of Venice, Act I, Scene II: "If to do were as easy as to know what were good to do, chapels would have been churches and poor men's cottages princes' palaces, It is a good divine that follows his own instructions; I can easier teach twenty what were good to be done, than be one of the twenty to follow one of mine own teaching." Mayor Michael Rama is a visionary. He needs men to carry his vision to reality. Without the elements for success, that vision will just be another empty dream.

Portia goes on to say: "The brain may devise laws for the blood but a hot temper leaps over a cold decree, such a hare is madness to the youth to skip over the meshes of good counsel to the cripple." I was in the just-concluded national convention of city mayors, when Rama, as national president, shared his vision to transform Cebu into a city that approximates the financial growth, prosperity, discipline, cleanliness, and beauty of Singapore. I reminded him that Singapore, which used to be only a small state of Malaysia, started its own prosperity when it became an independent state like Brunei. As long as Cebu is ruled by Imperial Manila, the central government will always obstruct progress. I also counseled him of five elements for success of that vision.

Singapore was a British colony, occupied by Japan in 1942, but returned to Great Britain in 1945. Singapore gained self-governance in 1959 and became part of the Malaysian Federation in 1963. The Philippines was then booming and our economic development was much better than both Malaysia and Singapore. Then in 1965, due to political and military turbulence in Malaysia, Singapore became a separate sovereign state. It was a small island with not enough space to grow crops for food, without minerals to propel its development. Singapore even imports water and food from Malaysia. But due to its visionary leader, Lee Kuan Yew, it became an economic tiger with dynamic policies and honest governance.

I lived in Malaysia for three years and always visited Johore where more over 1,000 OFWs worked. Most of them worked in Singapore by day and stayed in Malaysia by night. I also used to visit Singapore every month for sessions with my diplomatic counterparts and to lecture in various seminars there and attend conferences. Based on my research, Rama's vision of making Cebu City follow the economic path of Singapore, depends on five essential factors. First, Cebu or Metro Cebu must be granted more autonomy by the central government on policies and financial management. Second, it must have leadership in the caliber of Lee. Third, Cebuanos must cooperate completely. Fourth, foreign funding and investment must pour in. Fifth, Rama's vision must be translated into a strategic blueprint with definite timetable and budget.

Autonomy can be achieved by a new law creating a Metro Cebu Autonomous Development Center, Inc. with sufficient independence in making policies and allocating funds. This can be done if the politicians, especially Cebu congressmen, are mature and forward-looking enough to support Rama's vision. The mayor has to do a lot of lobbying. But if he can get Malacañang to tell the congressmen to go along, then this can be done. The support of BBM is crucial. Rama has the potential of Lee, but he needs to have competent technocrats and honest advisers. There must be an excellent marketing strategy to convince Cebuanos to rally behind this grandiose plan. Foreign investments and funding will come when regional and global investors see the blueprint prepared by experts.

Without these five elements, Rama's vision will remain a grandiose dream. Cebu is the oldest city in the Philippines. Many mayors have headed Cebu City since, his grandfather, Don Vicente, transformed the old municipality into a chartered city. It became a highly-urbanized city only on December 22, 1979. Osmeñas opposed the creation of a city apart from the province because of the myopic fear that its independence would deplete provincial coffers. But today, the province is wealthier than the city. Thus Rama's vision needs the support of Governor Gwen Garcia, the Cebu congressmen, and BBM, of course. Most of the times, bad politics is the number one assassin of excellent vision for progress.

What hampers progress is bad politics. What creates progress is excellent leadership, which attracts funding and investment and leads to prosperity. Singapore is a good example. But can Cebuanos and their leaders do a Lee Kuan Yew? That's the harder nut to crack. But if we think we can, then we can do it.