CIS of Kalunasan

While in my very small mountain farm, I conversed with a retired official of the government agency tasked with supervising local government units. We savored fresh mountain air and more importantly shared a common interest on how government works. Our encounter was brief, yet, I still noticed that he possessed a sharp mind age has not dulled. His quick repartee betrayed what we might call as discernible mischief.

Warning me to be a little more cautious with my words critical of His Honor Cebu City Mayor Tomas R. Osmeña, while the latter is still recuperating, he reluctantly agreed with my perception that the mayor's instant decision to move the landfill from Inayawan to Kalunasan was obviously not a product of a deliberate planning. But, he hastened that, when pursued with the mayor's kind of reticence, it may evolve to be a great whole package. The description he gave it was CIS to mean "comprehensive integrated service". With an impish smile written on his face, my friend said that Kalunasan might be the only barangay doing this.

This former government man, who did not give me the blessing to publish his name, points out the cold fact that Kalunasan is the present site of the city and provincial jails. Their names, coined around detention and rehabilitation, are distinctly more humane than menacing although we are not sure if the condition of the inmates is not as squalid and depressing as some reports, probably exaggerated, say.

We remember, however, that residents of Kalunasan were consulted on this move. They were informed that it was their social obligation to host the denizens of our island but the reasons advanced did not do much to placate their discomfort. Thus, quite understandably, their initial reaction was one of rejection. So, before the construction of these prison camps began, the residents of the barangay raised quite a howl of protest. No matter how loud their voices were, decision makers did not seem to hear them. Our officials believed that the residents' fear of any untoward incident involving prisoners was more imagined than factual. It then came to pass that the Kalunasan people have no choice but to accept the prisoners in their midst.

Kalunasan, as Mayor Osmeña recently discovered, and which my retiree friend supports, can also be a good site for landfill. The mayor looks so thoroughly convinced of the viability of this project that careful and serious planning, usually attendant in any project of this magnitude, is unnecessary. There is perhaps, no better place to dump the city's garbage than at the valley nestled between the hills separating Cebu's north and south districts. My friend is vocal. If the people of Kalunasan can accept the prisoners, why should they not welcome the landfill and integrate their service to the city?

To make the service comprehensive, my friend also suggests that the abattoir be placed at Kalunasan. He cites two arguments I am not comfortable with. First, owing to the way the water channel separating Cebu and Mandaue cities weaves itself, there is a possibility that the ownership of the present situs for butchering animals may be a subject of future legal contest. If we put the abattoir at Kalunasan, we skirt this issue. Second. The stench that a butchering site can generate may well complement the foul odor coming from the garbage dump. So, placing the abattoir and the dumpsite near each other may cancel the odious smell.

The CIS idea of my friend culminates with suggestion to transfer the city hospital to Kalunasan so that firstly, such refuse as cut human limbs, (recently found at Inayawan) do not have to be transported over a great distance anymore. His second argument, which I prefer to treat confidentially, is related to the end part of his position. He rounds up his stand with an encouragement to the owners of funeral parlors like Rolling Hills and Cosmopolitan, to situate their businesses there.

If the Kalunasan residents accept these plans and better still, make money out of these efforts, they shall be the first barangay to carry out a comprehensive and integrated service. Of course, my friend does not reside in Kalunasan.

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