Location, location
In approving a locational clearance that would pave the way for the Ciudad project along Governor Cuenco Avenue, Apas barangay captain Ramil Ayuman said he was thinking about the revenue and jobs to be generated once the real estate project is implemented.
“If we don’t accept their application, they might apply with barangay Lahug,” Ayuman said. The Capitol-owned lot where the Ciudad project will rise sits beside the Asiatown IT Park, which is being claimed by barangay Lahug in a long-running boundary dispute.
The PowerPoint slides describing the Spanish-themed Ciudad commercial-residential complex may have impressed Ayuman enough to sign the clearance, regardless of his political debt to Ciudad’s chief critic Tomas Osmeña, congressman of Cebu City’s south district.
Osmeña, as former Cebu City mayor, did his best to freeze Ciudad, showing horror at the heavy traffic it would cause in the narrow Banilad-Talamban Corridor. A closer look at the Ciudad presentation showed three access roads at the Asiatown IT park, with a fourth road at the nearby Central Command compound or Camp Lapu-Lapu.
Osmeña expected as much, but continued to warn about traffic congestion and even called on the City Council to oppose the project for that reason. Did the Osmeña bloc have an actual traffic study that considered the four access roads to be opened?
A 2006 engineering study for Ciudad has been updated that includes traffic calculations. Details have yet to be revealed.
Is the council open minded to hear the plan?
If hard science and traffic statistics aren’t brought into the discussion, Ciudad’s limbo boils down to a simple fight over turf.
To many Cebuanos, important decisions about development have too long been reduced to a power struggle between Osmeña and Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia.
Hence the fears of eviction in Capitol-owned lots in Cebu City covered by the province’s 93-1 ordinance, the closure and reopening of Larsian road, disputed ownership of the Cebu Zoo and historic Fuente Osmeña Rotunda, with Ciudad being another pawn.
Private subdivisions and condos that have been sprouting in Cebu’s real estate boom don’t go under the microscope like Ciudad.
Urban development should be taken on its actual merits to the community.
The Ciudad project, a joint venture between private developers and the provincial government, would be a major investment of the Capitol.
Brick buildings, a three-story museum and old houses with security guards dressed in Spanish-era costume could be a unique tourism and economic showcase.
If it succeeds, the benefits would spill over to both Cebu City and the province—in real estate and business taxes, employment, urban novelty, visitor traffic, etc.
It was far-fetched to think of a joint development between the city and province under an Osmeña administration. Even with a friendlier Mayor Michael Rama around, the governor would likely end up calling the shots.
In this respect, barangay captain Ayuman’s approval of a slip of paper—locational clearance—an initial step to start building plans and apply for other City Hall permits, gave to the Capitol unexpected leverage, which the city government had enjoyed for almost five years in the Ciudad standoff.
That’s water under the bridge.
The bigger question now is how well planned and well funded is Ciudad as a project to ensure benefits not only to barangay Apas but to Cebu City residents.
And what safeguards does it offer to reduce the threat of traffic chaos in the road network of Banilad-Talamban.
