The 95th birth anniversary of his father Don Sergio Osmeña Jr. yesterday served as the platform for Rep. Tomas Osmeña of Cebu City’s south district to reaffirm his commitment to transfer the Mactan Cebu International Airport to Cordova town.
The congressman reiterated this in response to a speech by City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete about his father’s contributions to Cebu City.
Osmeña said his father was the prime mover in transferring the Lahug airport to Mactan.
“He pushed the North Reclamation Area (NRA), I lobbied for the South Road Properties (SRP). He was responsible for putting the airport in Mactan, I plan to bring in investors to transfer the international airport to Cordova. I guess that’s the similarity,” he said.
Osmeña’s disclosure of SM Prime Holding’s offer to buy the 300-hectare airport lot caught tourism stakeholders by surprise.
The offer supposedly arose from a proposal by Cordova Mayor Adelino Sitoy to transfer the airport to his town.
The Cordova municipal government is pursuing its own reclamation project of which the airport relocation is said to be a central piece.
Expansion work
The Mactan Cebu International Airport Authority (MCIA) said the airport lot is not for sale.
But airport general manager Paul Villarete said the airport board will study the offer since it came from SM Prime Holdings, the country’s leading retail store chain.
At present, expansion work worth P178.6 million is ongoing at the Mactan airport consisting of two more passenger waiting lounges, two boarding bridges and passageways.
Yesterday afternoon’s commemoration of Don Sergio Osmeña Jr.’s 95th birth anniversary was attended by the Osmeña clan, the City Council and Cebu City Hall employees.
Also in attendance were Osmeña allies Rep. Rachel del Mar of Cebu City’s north district and her father former congressman Raul del Mar.
Mayor Michael Rama sent in Poblete to give the opening speech in his behalf.
Rama voiced his opposition to Osmeña’s proposal to transfer the Mactan Cebu airport to Cordova town last week, saying it was “unpalatable” to some businessmen who have development plans of their own for the airport site.
Part of the itinerary
Rama severed his ties with Osmeña’s Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) party sometime in the middle of this year and clashed on several issues, including the implementation of flyover projects in Cebu City.
The mayor also said his predecessor’s suggestion that there won’t be any need for a connecting bridge between Cordova town and Cebu City came too late because he already proposed his plan to build a bridge between the two local government units (LGUs).
Rama didn’t give his reason for skipping the event though City Public Information Officer Carlo Duga-duga confirmed that it was part of Rama’s itinerary for the day.
Also present during the activity was People’s Republic of China Consul General He Shijing.
With Serging’s statue at the back of SM City Cebu serving as backdrop, Poblete said the elder Osmeña provided Cebu with a template for genuine public service and governance.
“Serging to me is an epitome of a public servant who has done a lot for us. In fact, without him we would still be floating on sea water right here on where we are standing now since he was the one who has made the North Reclamation Area a reality,” he said.
He also acknowledged Serging’s efforts to transfer the Lahug Airport to Mactan and the realization of the Mactan Cebu Bridge.
By loyalty
For his year’s commemoration, the Osmeña clan picked a former janitor who served Serging since he was in his younger years.
“Our speaker for today who will speak on behalf of Serging Osmeña is a member of the family by heart and not by blood and he is Pablo Tinga,”
Rep. Osmeña said. Tinga thanked the Osmeña clan for being chosen as speaker for the event.
He recalled that he was employed as a janitor-messenger and stenographer in the Duterte Law Offices when Serging chose Duterte, Serging’s lawyer, to be his running mate in the mayoralty elections in 1955.
They both won and Duterte introduced Tinga to Serging and he had been serving Serging since then, including a stint as his executive secretary.
Tinga wrote a book about Serging entitled “Serging Osmeña – Cebu’s Legend in Politics”.
“And I have already started writing Part II of this book entitled: “The Entry of Serging’s Children in Politics,” Tinga said. /Edison A. Delos Angeles, Correspondent