Let’s make the Metro Cebu plan

Many are happy with the latest  moves of the Movement for Livable Cebu which mounted its second Sustainable Cities dialog last Friday with urban planner  Dr. Primitivo Cal as a main speaker.

The  conclusion of the dialog was that a second Metro Cebu land use and transportation plan should be made and is in fact long overdue.

If I may add, let us involve civil society and experts in the  planning. These are the people who would be affected by the changes, and have conducted studies in urban planning. The city  would benefit from their experiences. While we welcome politicians, they shouldn’t impose their will  on the group. They could suggest and recommend input and this would be  listened to and discussed unlike the situation today where national politicians lord it over and disregard expert opinion.

I think the local and national government  should heed the call of Dr. Cal and immediately convene a group of urban planners, engineers and civil society representatives to put their suggestions to action for the good of a growing Metro Cebu.

Architect Omar Maxwell Espina of the  University of San Carlos said there was an “absolute need” to do a MCLUTS 2 to chart the needs for Metro Cebu over the next 20 years.

I agree with the statement of Espina that planning should be insulated from politics and should be “objective”. We have the technical team and the model for the study. According to Espina that makes him  hopeful that the Metro Cebu study can be readily updated.

And finally,  let’s do it because the people  can no longer afford to  dillydally in crafting  a comprehensive urban development  plan.  The  worst is yet to come.

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The people of Cebu City  should be happy with the latest decision of the Court of Appeals which issued a  writ of preliminary injunction preventing the garnishment of Cebu City’s  bank deposits and bars the public auction of the city-owned 9.7 hectare lot at the South Road Properties.

The court said the city government established a “clear and unmistakable right” being the beneficiary or recipient in a 1940 covenio or contract. The convenio statesd  that lots 485-D and 485-E comprising  4,654 square meters were supposed to be donated and transferred by the lot successors in the Rallos case.

Well, the decision is very clear that the court recognizes the existence and validity of the 1940 convenio.

The question is what  happened to the convenio during the past administration? Why was the contract not  presented in  court earlier?

Did the past administration deliberately hide the  convenio from the court?  And why does Rep. Tommy Osmeña insist that the city government pay the money claims of the Ralloses when the claim is not tenable?

Cebuanos are fortunate to have a lawyer  for a mayor. Mayor Mike Rama studied the case  carefully and vowed not to part with public funds to pay  a claim that is dubious. Many suspect that a  syndicate pulled a fast one over City Hall before.

There’s the perception that government officials would not make a big fuss out of it. They were wrong. They  failed to see the righteousness of Mayor  Rama.  I hope what he did would be a lesson for local government officials not to immediately succumb to pressure to pay money claims that are not warranted, especially now that it is clear that there is a well-financed group out to make fast money from the government.

It is hoped that the present city administration finds the political will to expose the unscrupulous persons who want to siphon the  city’s coffers.