Do congressmen respect LGUs?

Now it’s known that Rep. Cutie del Mar of Cebu City’s north district and her father, former congressman Raul del Mar, are indeed planning to put up seven more flyovers in Cebu City.

With this, I think the government should draft a master plan to make sense of the road network and ensure the city is livable. The city should in fact pay more attention to street flooding through the implementation of a drainage master plan before the city becomes like Metro Manila which gets flooded in a flash. Last Friday, heavy rains hit the cities of Cebu and Mandaue, causing serious flooding in some streets.

The Cebu city government should insist on its right to formulate a master plan before any flyover sponsored by a congressman can be implemented since the local government unit (LGU) has jurisdiction over projects to be implemented within the city. Our congressmen should respect the LGU’s authority by abiding by that master plan.

Students pursuing a degree in public administration can look into the relationship between and roles of legislators and city officials as far as city project implementation is concerned. This, I hope, will lead to the creation of sensible guidelines to help break deadlocks in the future.

I find it wrong for a congressman to unilaterally implement a project funded by his pork barrel in a city without consulting its officials and stakeholders first. In the case of the looming flyovers on M.J. Cuenco and Gorordo avenues, consultation was done after the project was approved for implementation.

What about the city residents affected by the projects? Shouldn’t they have a say in the flyovers? Whatever happened to President Benigno Aquino III’s talk about recognizing the people as his boss? Was that just rhetoric?

Shouldn’t Mayor Michael Rama bother President Aquino because the flyover frenzy is a local issue? I think the mayor simply took his cue from officials of the Department of Public Works and Highways who said that only the President or the Supreme Court can suspend the flyover projects. So he brought the issue to the President.

This matter can be resolved if we give the city the opportunity to draft the master plan and stop injecting politics into it.

* * *

Now that Bella Ruby Santos has been arrested, there is no reason to delay the hearing of the case of kidnapping and homicide for the death of Ellah Joy Pique. It’s very clear Santos had no intention to voluntarily surrender so I think allowing no bail is logical.

If I were Santos, I would face the music and prove my case during the court hearing.

Let’s congratulate our National Bureau of Investigation for the timely arrest of Santos in Metro Manila. Their persistence finally paid off. Now the ball is in the hands of the prosecution to prove their case that Santos and Briton Ian Charles Griffith are guilty beyond reasonable doubt and for Santos to prove that she is innocent of the charge filed against her.

The case now is out of the hands of the Philippine National Police whose handling of the case Santos questioned. The battle is now in court and her lawyers will play a crucial role in proving her innocence.

Now is the time for Santos to prepare hard for her defense. Let’s now see if the police work can stand the scrutiny of the court of justice unlike before when they wrongfully fully filed a case against an innocent couple—Karen Castro Esdrelon and her Norwegian boyfriend Sven Erik Berger.

Many people are hoping that elusive justice for Ellah will now be served following the arrest of Santos and hopefully of Griffith in due time.