When he sits in Congress: Tom to continue opposing LRT, Cebu Economic Zone

CEBU, Philippines - Outgoing Cebu City Mayor and congressman-elect for the South District Tomas Osmeña vowed to block any future proposal for a Light Rail Transit system in the city and to lobby against the bill that seeks to make whole Cebu as an Economic Development Zone in Congress.

Osmeña expressed his worries over the formation of a Cebu bloc because most of its members are representatives from the congressional districts in the province, who are in favor of the above mentioned developments which he said are more of disadvantageous than an advantage to the City of Cebu.

Comparing the LRT to the Bus Rapid Transit that the city government prefers to implement here in three years time, Osmeña said that LRT is so expensive that will only have one line from Talisay City to Mandaue City.

In a previous proposal, the 18-kilometer LRT will cost USD 602 million which is USD 32 million per kilometer while the same amount can already build an 86-kilometer BRT line at USD 7 million per kilometer.

BRT and LRT are both for mass transportation.

The city government prefers the BRT because it is more cost-efficient to build and maintain. It is also more environment-friendly and will not require a major destruction in the city.

The proposed LRT, Osmeña raised earlier, would jeopardize the city’s chances of a foreign loan for the BRT.

But the Department of Transportation and Communication said that the LRT system will not cost the city or the national government any financial exposure.

“There’s a gross misrepresentation, the biggest misrepresentation is that there is no money out from the national government. Technically speaking, there’s no money out, it’s just the guarantee of the national government but it’s the same as money out because if we cannot pay, national will pay,” Osmeña said.

He said, in congress, if there will be a proposal to push for the LRT system in Cebu, he will not permit that Cebu City will be included in the picture.

“Let them have their LRT but don’t do it in the city. I just intend to fight it,” he said.

He said that he will also lobby against the proposal to make Cebu an Economic Development Zone, because it will greatly affect the delivery of basic services in Cebu City.

“If you look at it in the surface nindot, but not all. If Cebu including Cebu City becomes an economic zone, walay import tax, wala’y buwis. Problema kay ang mga dakong tax payer, din a mamayad og buwis, unya ang mga pobre, magbayad diay og buwis? Sa buwis na gikan ang kwarta for basic services. What kind of services can the city then do,” Osmeña lamented.

He said that an EDZ is like an authority that is appointed and not elected which means that the real leaders later are business groups.

“They will take over the city just like what happened to PEZA and MEPZA. So kita later, we will be squatters in our own city because it is no longer a city, it is a zone,” he said.

The South Road Properties, he said, is also in danger because not all its revenue later will go to the city contrary to what it is created for.

“There’s another aspect which I did not bring out. Don’t you think it’s unfair to Bohol and Negros and the rest of the Visayas? If it works, no investor will go to Negros, no investor will go to Bohol, Dumaguete City, so I will tell them, sige you vote for that, if it works, you die,” Osmeña warned.    (FREEMAN NEWS)