Pro and anti forces meet in Malacañang

Road widening work will go on as scheduled in Cebu City.

However, no quick answer was given yesterday by President Aquino on the fate of suspended flyover projects here.

He ordered the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to conduct a new traffic study and finish it by December to guide a decision on whether two planned flyovers are “feasible.”

In the meantime, road widening should continue, he said.

In a closed-door meeting in Malacañang, the President met with Cebu City Michael Rama, who wants a moratorium on flyover construction, and  Cebu City  Rep. Rachel Marguerite “Cutie” del Mar, who lobbied for two flyover projects worth P600 million to proceed in Gorordo Avenue and M.J. Cuenco Avenue.

President Aquino  said he usually doesn’t get drawn into “local” political conflicts but he spent almost two hours listening to the parties, including a briefing by the Dep’t of Public Works and Highways (DPWH).

Earlier in the morning, Mayor Rama was in Bohol, where he asked the Regional Development  Council (RDC) 7 to consider the report of its Technical Work  Group (TWG), which recommended a “moratorium” on flyovers.

No floor debate or voting took place, but flyers were distributed by Rep. Tomas Osmeña warning the council not to reverse its stand in previous resolutions endorsing flyovers in Cebu City.  (See separate story.)

The Malacañang meeting had both pro- and anti-flyover officials  coming out sounding pleased.

“It was a very casual conversation and I’m very confident about the outcome of the meeting,” Del Mar told Cebu Daily News later.

“The President ordered for the study to be completed next month to determine if its findings show that flyovers are feasible or not.  But I am very confident that it would be (in favor of ) the flyovers.”

She said she was certain the project would start no later than 2012.

Mayor Rama, in a separate interview, said he, too, was “pleased” with the outcome because the President acknowledged the need for a traffic  master plan as objective basis to guide infrastructure spending.

“That’s what I’ve been asking from from the Del Mars, that a study should come first before more flyovers,” said the mayor.

Both Cebuano officials said that President Aquino asked the DPWH and Department of Transportation and Communicaiton (DOTC) to start a feasibility study for a transport master plan for Metro Cebu. No costs or timelines were discussed, however.

A master plan for urban Cebu to update a 1980 Metro Cebu Land Use and Transportation Plan (MCLUTS) is one of the key demands of flyover critics who form the Movement for a Liveable Cebu.

Present in the top-level meeting were Public Works Secretary Rogelio Singson, who sat beside Rama, and Transportation and Communication Secretary Mar Roxas, who sat next to Congresswoman Del Mar. President Aquino was  at the head  of the table.

Executive Secretary Paquito Ochoa and Budget Secretary Florencio Abad were also present.

Secretary Singson  gave a PowerPoint presentation of the vehicle count of the number of vehicles that pass daily through the busy road junctures of both flyover projects on Gorordo Avenue and M.J. Cuenco.

The same DPWH figures were earlier considered “incomplete” and inadequate basis to warrant buildings flyovers, according to the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management.

Singson last October ordered the suspension of all flyovers projects in Metro Cebu after an outcry was raised by urban planners, environment advocates and nuns of the Asilo dela Milagrosa, whose shrine would be affected by the project.

President Aquino called for the dialogue after Mayor Rama wrote him in September appealing for a “through public consultation” because flyovers are “not the ultimate solution” to traffic and would diminish the value of Cebu City as a “heritage city.”

Del Mar followed with her own letter appealing to the President not to stop “her projects,” which aim to ease worsening traffic congestion.

Yesterday, Del Mar said the mood of the meeting in Malacañang was light with no tension in the conference room.

The meeting began about 3 p.m. and finished at about 5 p.m.

She said that she and Rama were given the chance to talk first, and after they explained their sides, President Aquino initiated the discussion.

Del Mar said that she explained how the two proposed flyovers are  part of the series of flyovers originally proposed by his father former congressman Raul Del Mar.

She also cited the eight resolutions issued by the RDC-7  supporting the two flyovers in Cebu City.

“I didn’t directly speak to (Secretary) Singson about the flyovers, but it was discussed in the meeting,” she said.

The only formal presentation made was given by Singson.

“He (Aquino) said that he don’t usually involve himself with local politics,” Del Mar said of Aquino at the end of their meeting.

She said Aquino explained that he called the meeting after he received the letters from Rama and Del Mar.

In a separate interview, Rama said he told the President the opposition was not his alone, but from various groups in civil society.

“I told the President to be mindful of the right thing to do because many oppose the flyovers in Cebu,” Rama told CDN.

“These are technical matters, the decision should be based on the opinions of the experts,” he said.

He said he tried to discuss  alternative solutions like flared intersections and road widening but was unable to discuss in detail due to lack of time.

He left a file of documents, including studies of the TWG, the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom), University of San Carlos College of Architecture and Fine Arts, and resolutions of  groups like the Asilo dela Milagrosa, architects, urban planners and environment advocates.

Rama said  he also brought up the findings and recommendations of the Technical Working Group of the Regional Development Council-Infrastructure Development Committee (RDC-IDC), which includes the suspension of all flyovers in Metro Cebu and the lack for a public forum before the implementation.

“I tried to explain to him the importance of the TWG findings, but I did not insist on specific details because I don’t want to be technical about it,” Rama said. /Candeze R. Mongaya, Reporter