Bad public reaction scraps city's plan to spite province

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City administrator Francisco “Bimbo” Fernandez yesterday admitted that the city really planned to let some city personnel to ride on the City Hall float during the Sinulog grand parade wearing shirts printed with “Suya Ra’ng Probinsya” but this was cancelled because of adverse reactions from the public.

“Angkonon nako nga tinuod na nga dunay plano ang City Hall nga kadtong mosakay sa float pasul-obon og T-shirts nga markahan og Suya Ra’ng Probinsya pero ato na lang gi-cancel tungod kay daghan ang wala makagusto,” said Fernandez yesterday.

Mayor Tomas Osmeña confirmed that they agreed not to carry out the plan because the city officials are willing to bow to the sentiments of the people.

Aside from some of the city councilors who strongly opposed the plan, many people also criticized it.

“Suya Ra’ng Probinsya” is the usual expression of Osmeña every time Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia and other provincial officials criticize the city on how they manage the SRP.

Meanwhile, the mayor yesterday explained why he worked overtime for the realization of the sale of the 30.4 hectares of the SRP that was purchased by SM Prime Holdings Inc. in the amount of P2.7 billion.

Osmeña said he had three reasons; he wanted that the second sale of SRP to happen before the end of his term, he wanted to ensure that the next administration will have enough funds to finance its projects and to disprove the provincial officials claims that nobody is interested to buy the SRP lots.

SM Prime Holdings plans to invest P20 billion for various projects in their purchased lots, including the construction of a giant mall which is twice the size of SM City in the North Reclamation Area, and it will also build a huge convention center much bigger than the province-owned Cebu International Convention Center in Mandaue City. — Rene U. Borromeo/BRP   (FREEMAN NEWS)