Getting ready to meet foreign leaders!

Pres. Gloria Macapagal Arroyo was in Cebu yesterday not just for a cabinet meeting, but to join a Regional Interfaith Dialogue for Peace and Development, a conference nobody knew about until we read about it in the newspapers. Let me just say that what Pres. Arroyo "shared" with the other Asia-Pacific leaders about using faith to fight terror is not only true in the fight against terrorism, but also in the fight against poverty or corruption. If only we lived the life of a true Christian, quarrels or wars would disappear. But then, that's already dreaming of utopia.

What we also didn't know was that, Pres. Arroyo brought a "tag-a-long" in the person of New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, which in my book should have been a formal state visit complete with military honors and all the exuberance attached to such official ceremonies. The New Zealand prime minister's short visit to Cebu and Bohol gave us a glimpse of what to expect in the coming ASEAN Summit.

But are we really prepared for this? For sure, we're still short of funds even just to fix our roads. A hundred million has been earmarked to fix the road to Shangri-la, but the problem there isn't that the roads are in a bad condition on the contrary the roads leading to the Shangri-la are better than our roads in Cebu City. It turns out that Cebu needs a billion just to fix our major roads! I'm sure that DPWH doesn't have this kind of money!

The problem along that road is that, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Arturo Radaza doesn't have the political will to stop illegal parking along the main corners where people are selling barbecues alongside the road, where people in multicabs are buying foods without giving a hoot to the other motorists snarled in bad traffic behind them. That's the problem on the road to the Mactan Shrine and it doesn't need money to fix it but political will!

What about Cebu City? Are we really prepared to embrace the presidents or prime ministers of ASEAN when they come for the summit? In most state visits, the foreign visitor usually drops in the tomb of the Unknown Soldier or the Statue of a National Hero. But where do we have this in Cebu City? Years ago, I have always batted for the return of the remains of Don Sergio Osmeña, Sr. to Cebu because he is the only Cebuano president we've ever had. But the Osmeña family living in Manila refused to get him out of the old and decrepit North Cemetery in Manila where Don Sergio is only remembered during All Saints and All Soul's Day.

Perhaps now is a good time to bring back the remains of Don Sergio and place him in a place of honor right at the Fuente Osmeña so that finally, we in Cebu can bring our foreign guests or dignitaries to lay a wreath before the man whom we consider the greatest Cebuano who ever lived! I wish the Cebu City Parks and Playgrounds would recommend this to the Cebu City Council while there is still time for a project like this.

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Talking about political leaders, we are witnessing differences and similarities happening with our neighbors. In Thailand for instance, Thaksin Shinawatra is contemplating on following the call of Pres. Arroyo to declare a state of emergency in Thailand because the people are asking for his resignation. To think, this is not supposed to happen in a parliamentary system of government, which is why House Speaker Jose de Venecia and former Pres. Fidel Ramos are strangely quiet about cha-cha these days.

Meanwhile, in Seoul, South Korea, last Tuesday, South Korean Prime Minister Lee Hae-chan, who runs the day-to-day government activities for Sokor President Roh Moo-Hyun, offered to resign for playing golf with business executives while a national railway strike was causing transport chaos. This sounds like someone I know.

It turned out that several Sokor newspapers and politicians have called on Lee to resign for failing to attend to the strike and instead play golf with a group that included a businessman who had been convicted of financial crimes and another under investigation for price fixing. Prime Minister Lee already apologized for "careless" conduct and reportedly made his resignation offer to President Roh. We don't know whether the resignation of Prime Minister Lee would be accepted.

This gives us an insight of how politically mature the South Korean politicians have become. That good governance means good breeding as well. We could never expect see or hear something like this happening in this country even in the future.

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