Cebu to suffer a "Puasa" from infra projects?

For tonight’s special presentation of Straight from the Sky, we bring you a very frank and serious talk on the issues related to the Land Transportation Office. Recently, a big issue erupted on whether gov’t. dump or cargo trucks should be used to transport passengers. LTO says this is a no-no, but Local Government officials insist that they could continue using those trucks for their constituents. So the question is can the LTO enforce its rules?

 This is question that many of our televiewers would like to be answered. So for tonight we have with us LTO Regional Director Raul Aquino, who will give us the story behind what LTO has been doing in the past years. So watch this very frank talk with the LTO Regional Director on SkyCable’s channel 15 at 8:00 pm tonight.

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 Last Friday morning, we attended the Public Information Forum conducted by Cebu City District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor, Jr. of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) at the DSWD office in order for the public to learn more about the proposed flyover for Gen. Maxilom (Mango) Ave. corner M.J. Cuenco St. and the other one along Arch. Reyes, corner Gorordo Ave.

 Among those who attended the forum were Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, Councilors Margot Osmeña and Ritchie Osmeña, CITOM Chief Sylvan “Jack” Jakosalem, and his Executive Director Raffy Yap, former Chamber President Efren Valiante, Bunny Pages and former Rep. Raul del Mar. Cebu City north district Rep. Rachel “Cutie” del Mar gave the rationale for the project, clearly giving credence to the oppositors of the flyovers that we need to widen our streets and install flyovers at busy intersections.

 First to react was the CITOM Exec. Director Yap who questioned the DPWH’s road traffic study, but unfortunately, he didn’t bring with him any CITOM study to counter what the DPWH presented. He lost that opportunity. Mr. Yap’s concern also focused on M.J. Cuenco at the junction of Mactan Ave., which leads to the Ayala Business Park. But Rep. Del Mar already pointed out that together with the flyover is a budget to simultaneously widen that part of the road, which answered his concerns.

 Mr. Yap showed his concern about public safety as vehicles passing along the flyover run faster than a signalized intersection. In a way, he proves our point that a flyover allows vehicles to move faster when the project is done. However I pointed out to Mr. Yap that during our stint in CITOM and even way back to the time of Sammy Darza, we placed metal railings along the sidewalks in order to force pedestrians to cross only at designated areas. Alas, under Mayor Mike Rama, he had all those metal railings removed, thus creating a situation where unruly pedestrians just cross the street like stray cats and dogs, totally endangering the people’s life and limb.

 I talked with Councilor Ritchie Osmeña who handles CITOM matters for the Cebu City Council and he took notes and agreed that those metal railings were placed there for a specific purpose and the safety of pedestrians. Because people cross anywhere they like, they have instead caused vehicles to slow down for fear of hitting pedestrians, worsening the traffic. Mind you, this is not only done in Metro Manila, but they also do this in Singapore.

 Yes, my good friend Bunny Pages was also there, up to his old ways; speaking against the flyover, demanding that all projects should stop until we get a Master Plan for Cebu City and decide that flyovers are part of the solution to our traffic problems. Clearly, Bunny who is a newcomer in this game, didn’t know that we did have a Master Plan and that it just took too long to implement it. If we listen to the lags of Bunny Pages, Cebu City will suffer a “PU-ASA” from infra projects for years until he finishes his Master Plan.

 I had to stand up and tell Bunny that these flyovers were not figment of Rep. Raul or Cutie Del Mar’s imagination as a solution to our traffic problems. This came from the Metro Cebu Land Use Transport System (MCLUTS), which was pushed during the Marcos era and then Gov. Emilio “Lito” Osmeña implemented, putting flyovers in Talisay and Mandaue. All these were there long before Bunny Pages showed his concern for Cebu City.

 Councilor Margot Osmeña then stood up to make an appeal to everyone that all these things were properly planned from way back and that we should unite for the development of Cebu. I guess she was just pissed with the obstructionist stand of Mr. Bunny Pages. Another fellow insisted that a flared intersection was better than a flyover and used the Keppel intersection in Ayala to prove his point. But then that corner is off limits to trucks and buses, which means he was comparing oranges to apples. Contrary to The Freeman report last Saturday, Efren Valiente was for the flyovers! Mind you, under Pres. PNoy, we have not yet even seen infra projects under his name, as these flyovers were conceptualized before PNoy took power!

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