Tom: Mike has no money for projects

CEBU, Philippines - Former Cebu City Mayor now South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña accused Mayor Michael Rama of stealing the money that somebody else worked hard for because the latter allegedly has no money to fund his projects.

“He wants the money because he has no money. It’s a political way of stealing because he cannot get the money himself,” Osmeña said.

He said the mayor has no money to fund his projects because the city government is in a state of bankruptcy.

“So he has to source out somewhere else. He has to sell SRP, he has to loan. He gives all kinds of excuses,” Osmeña said.

He belittled the position of the mayor saying road widening is just similar to putting additional lanes through the flyover. The big difference is, the latter is cheaper and can be achieved immediately than road widening.

“Do you know how many years it took the widening in Escario? Seven years! And it’s not even finished yet,” Osmeña said.

He said it is very costly that even the city government and national government’s budget combined could not suffice.

“The widening in Escario cost P15,000 per square meter.  He wants to widen the road up to the Barangay Hall of Talamban? Bangkarote ang national government, bangkarote ang syudad,” Osmeña said.

He challenged Rama to pursue his plan and suffer the difficulty it poses.

“They are all talk but could not show anything. What have they done? Nothing,” Osmeña said.

The planned Bus Rapid Transit mainline can pass through the location of the flyovers but Osmeña said it does not matter because they can make the flyover into a four-lane when the time comes. 

He said the city does not have to wait for 20 years for the BRT before they take action to solve the worsening traffic. — (FREEMAN)