Big dreams
Last time we checked, it’s okay to dream big in this democratic country so long as you don’t cross paths with the powers that be or are in league with them in developing and realizing their own visions of greatness and grandeur.
One need only look at Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama and Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district as examples. Two former-allies-turned-foes are each pitching their own visions and dreams for Cebu City and the surrounding Metro Cebu areas with varying degrees of success.
In presenting his P11.8-billion budget, later scaled down to P10.8 billion, Rama envisioned a Cebu City that will stand out as a centerpiece of culture, a fast-developing metropolis with ties to its storied past and a forward-looking economy for the future.
Osmeña, on the other hand, dreams big not only for his pet South Road Properties (SRP) project but also for the transfer of the Cebu international airport to Cordova town despite the misgivings from Lapu-Lapu City officials, some businessmen and, yes, Rama.
In between is Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia, who had been taking advantage of the rift between Rama and Osmeña by pressing her own development agenda that seeks to reinstall the Capitol’s influence on Cebu City affairs and expanding it elsewhere to include Lapu-Lapu City.
But that’s viewing from the lofty vantage point of local politicians who play their little games in the halls of power and behind air-conditioned offices. Below on the street level, Cebu City and Metro Cebu residents continue to toil and go about their business, wondering when the official they voted for will bother to do something about the cracked roads and the drainage system that badly need repairs, the busted streetlights and the foul smell of garbage that had yet to be picked up by their local garbage collectors.
It’s this street-level approach that Rama is banking on when he warned that he will post in tarpaulins spread across the city the items cut by the City Council in his proposed budget because there aren’t enough funds and that it’s better to stick to the “skin-and-bones” budget practiced in previous years.
It remains to be seen whether the message is effective and justified; Cebu City officials also need to impose controls and safety checks to ensure that the funds are used and accounted for.
At the same time, Osmeña’s push to transfer the airport to Cordova town is just that, a dream that needs more than a written assurance from a retail giant to fuel and make a reality beneficial for the province.
In pushing the budget and the airport transfer, we only hope that Rama and Osmeña took into consideration the little people who will be affected by their plans and programs. Regardless of the scale and scope of their dreams, it’s the details and the implementation that most concern the average Cebuano.
