Citom urged: Allow closure of road fronting Basilica

CEBU, Philippines - Acting Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella appealed to the members of the City Integrated Traffic Operations Management board to grant the request of the Augustinian priests to temporarily close for vehicle traffic the portion of Osmeña Boulevard fronting the Basilica Minore del Santo Niño.

Labella said the temporary closure of the road will help expedite the restoration of the bell tower which collapsed during the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that struck Cebu and Bohol in October last year.

“I will sit down with CITOM board and I will try my best to persuade them to grant the request of our parishioners,” Labella said.

Citom executive director Rafael Christopher Yap earlier announced the board’s denial of the request. According to Yap, the board wanted to know first the timeline of the rehabilitation works of the belfry. He emphasized that regular closure every Friday and Sunday has been granted to accommodate devotees.

Labella said that two weeks, would be enough for German architects doing the restoration to finalize the installation of shoring at the top portion of the belfry in preparation for the main construction works.  Shoring refers to the materials used to stabilize a structure while undergoing structural modification or restoration.

“German architects belfry is too delicate that they need enough time because it is not that easy to rehabilitate with the intention of preserving the smallest items of the belfry,” Labella said.

Labella stressed that the immediate completion of the iconic belfry is significant in the upcoming International Eucharistic Congress in 2016.

“Let’s not jump to the conclusion right away that it will cause a serious bottleneck. So we have to make a study because it is important especially with the forthcoming IEC,” he said.

Labella, who authored the proposed “pedestrianization ordinance” of the same road, pointed out that the period of temporary closure could be used by CITOM and the city government to come up with measures to address the “traffic impact” should the closure be permanent, since Osmeña Boulevard is a major thoroughfare.

“This would be a good opportunity for us to experiment whether the pedestrianization we introduced will not cause a bottleneck or traffic jam. Give a chance to have the experiment done,” he said.—(FREEMAN)