Mrs. Paz Radaza's Fresh Mandate

Mayor Paz Radaza of Lapu-Lapu City got the scare of her life when President Noynoy Aquino gave full support to LP bet Ebraim Pelaez and the entire LP slate during the May 2013 elections. Luckily for Mrs. Radaza and her “Derecho” team, they survived the LP's obviously delayed onslaught, despite her anemic first term and her failure to solve the city's age-old problems which she inherited from her husband and, perhaps unknowingly, created a new one herself.  She was visibly inconspicuous during her first three years but she made a last-ditch effort to be noticed by imposing a ban on the operation of the Yellow Submarine, filing a protest against an EQ diapers TV ad which, she said, desecrates the city's noble history (she should have included a lifetime ban for Yoyoy Villame's Magellan as well) and a last-minute disqualification move against her opponent for feeding his hungry support staff during a rally. All these were done just prior to and during the campaign period.

These desperate moves must have helped her alright because she still managed to win and got a fresh mandate from her constituents.  Her daughter, Aileen, also won as district representative along with her son who got reelected as city councilor.

And so, Lapu-Lapu City is again stuck with the Radazas for another three years of bleak and uncertain future - unless the near-loss at the polls has jolted them back to their senses, and gave them the much needed shot in the arm to make them focus on the city's problems for a change, instead of making ostentatious billboards of lofty projects such as the world class soccer field which never took off and the blueprints, if there were any, simply disappeared in thin air.

Mrs. Radaza needs to focus on these problems as soon as she can:

1. Providing a decent public market for the city.  You only have to visit the present facility to see what I mean. Compare this recycled remnant of the 50s with what Mandaue City and several communities of Cebu City, such as Pardo and Ramos, were able to provide their constituents. Certainly a more worthy project that would benefit Lapu-Lapu residents more than a soccer field,  that the MEPZ already has, that is used more as venue for rock concerts and trade fairs than for the game itself.

2. Solve the age-old problem of inadequately lighted side streets and cross-island roads such as Bangkal, Pajac, Kagudoy, Abono, and Marigondon (to name a few) that are either in perpetual repair or in total neglect, with potholes and resident mud, owing to the absence of an adequately-engineered drainage system that would help ensure that the repairs and repaving won't be washed out again during the rainy season. Contrast these streets with Lapu-Lapu's main thoroughfares, especially those leading to the airport and the beach resorts.  They are all well-maintained and well-lighted, with the center island and both sides accentuated by lush flora, ornamental plants and well-manicured grass to impress on tourists, visitors, and passers-by that Lapu-Lapu City is alive and well. Unfortunately for Mrs. Radaza, these transients also traverse these streets and roads east of the runway and join the chorus of curses for the powers-that-be, including the mayor, of course, every time they encounter rough sailing through these bumpy roads.

3. Providing a decent garbage collection system or a simple reversal to the old solid waste disposal system instead of the onerous current system introduced during Mrs. Radaza's first term, which calls for the collection of only resalable waste, such as plastics, cartons, paper, old clothing and leather, while dried leaves and branches and fruit peelings, fish, poultry and pork entrails, and stale left-over food are left with the residents.  They either have to bury them or if they have no backyard, pay fly-by-night garbage collectors to get them. They cannot also burn them lest be fined stiffly by DENR if ever they are caught doing so. Meanwhile the bona fide garbage collectors spend more time sorting items that can be resold than simply collecting garbage. In the entire archipelago, only Lapu-Lapu City has this unique but heartless garbage collection system.

Perhaps, instead of dreaming about making Lapu-Lapu a Singapore, Aileen should help her mother solve the above problems first and make every Lapu-Lapu City resident happy again. The Radazas have been in power for so long now. To think, none of these problems are so big that they can't be solved within three years, if the Radazas would only put their hearts into the resolution of these problems once and for all.

- An exasperated but still hopeful Lapu-Lapu City resident