Last week we witnessed how heavy rains swamped parts of Cebu City and some residents suffered damage to property and lost belongings in flooding.
This didn’t happen as much before but as the city grows with more people populating the land and building houses and commercial buildings in every space available, street flooding has become a common occurrence.
Definitely the city has to implement a flood control system or a massive drainage improvement to address what’s going on.
This is a matter that can’t wait. Today if it rains, flooding follows to the grief and inconvenience of many city residents.
I now believe the budget allocated for proposed new flyovers should be realigned for a more sensible drainage system or flood control project in Cebu City. This would be a more pro-poor infrastructure than a flyover because it addresses a more pressing need than traffic.
The flood problem of the city is beyond partisan politics and needs the cooperation of all concerned in the city and national government.
I welcome the decision of the Regional Trial Court dismissing complaints filed by some Mahiga Creek occupants against Mayor Mike Rama and the city government because the creek dwellers are one of the reasons we have flooding in city streets especially around SM City in the North Reclamation Area.
It’s basic that rivers and creeks are beyond the commerce of man. Occupants of waterways ave no right over the river. They and their political patrons know this.
I appeal to politicians to refrain from misleading occupants with false hopes that they would never be evicted.
Government officials should be telling them basic legal realities that they have no right to osbtruct or live in danger zones near creeks and rivers which are outlets for storm water to exit to the sea during a heavy rain.
So what the Cebu city government is doing is just correcting a wrong practice that was tolerated before.
The RTC decided that occupants of the Mahiga creek were not qualified as housing beneficiaries. Despite that, the city government provided a relocation site in the upland barnagay of Budlaan. Occupants rejected the place because it is far from their sources of lievlihood.
Lucky for them all they have to do is squat by rivers and creeks, then they get offered land as a relocation site. I am hoping the occupants realize that it’s not safe or legal to continue living there with the threat of overflowing riverbanks.
What the city government is doing is for their own protection.
* * *
The two Dodge Charger sedans that were donated or sold to Minnie Osmeña are being used by her brother Congressman Tommy Osmeña.
The vehicles carry the Cebu City seal and blinkers. This should be investigated because regardless of the position of the congressman, I think a private car that bears the seal of the city is misrepresentation becauseit is not the property of the City of Cebu.
People would mistake the cars, which look like police patrol cars and were actually used in film making for that purpose as official vhehicles.
It’s a a matter of propriety and delicadeza, if not legality.
I think the good congressman should not insist that he has the right to use the city’s official seal on what he insists is now a private vehicle.
If the city government allows this, it would means it’s all right for any other Tom, Dick and Harry to put the official seal of Cebu City on their own cars.
I think the congressman should be careful about setting an example for others especially since, as a congressman, he should be following the law aw instead of clearly offending sensibilities of delicadeza, if not violating the law.