Flooding and money

Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama said he will ask for the city a share in the national government’s calamity funds for local anti-flooding projects.

We all share the mayor’s concern but urge him to explore other means for sourcing funds together with the finance committee of the City Council headed by Councilor Margot Osmeña and the Office of the City Treasurer.

Before we ask for a share of the national government’s P68-billion calamity fund, can the Office of the Mayor try to recover, for instance, money auditors said was misspent to give extra Christmas bonuses for the city’s public school teachers?

Cebu City, which has bragged for years about being no. 1, would look like a brat before the national government if it asks for money when there are many other locales with scarce resources that need the calamity fund.

Besides, the mayor should not think the national government is insensitive of the need for a flood-resilient Cebu City in time for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in 2015 and the International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.

In the meantime, the City Council has already announced that it also wishes to address the problem of flooding.

What are the councilors doing aside from fiscalizing the executive department to help generate funds to overhaul the city’s drainage?

Can Mayor Rama and the councilors get their act together and challenge our congressmen to fund the city’s anti-flooding projects?

It is sad that Cebu congressmen are on the list of lawmakers who used the Priority Development Assistance Fund entrusted to them for projects outside their own districts.

While the administration of President Benigno Aquino III sees the abolition of the pork barrel next year yet, City Hall should take the lead in urging Rep. Rodrigo Abellanosa and Rep. Raul Del Mar to identify anti-flooding measures as their priority projects. That would be good realpolitik.

Citizens’ organizations like the Movement for a Livable Cebu can keep up the pressure for the mayor to spend money for well-planned urban priorities and for our congressmen to appropriate funds where they are needed.