Good beginnings for Cebu City

It was 73 years ago on July 4, 1946 when the US government lowered the American flag in Philippine territory and raised the Philippine flag at the same time. Thus, our dream of getting independence from the nation that colonized us was recognized worldwide by the members of the United Nations (UN) and a sovereign Philippine nation emerged. It happened in the same era when colonizers like the Dutch gave independence to Indonesia, and the Brits to India, Pakistan and Malaysia. So ask yourself, why is Independence Day celebrated on June 12 when no nation recognizes that day Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo raised the Philippine flag in his home in Kawit, Cavite? I rest my case.

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In his inaugural speech delivered last Tuesday, July 2, at the Legislative Hall, Mayor Edgardo Labella spoke about his 10-point agenda. Leading the list of things to do was addressing the urban flashfloods when downpour strikes. This is a problem that the previous administration did not really push through, as their priority was the SRP. Then Mayor Labella said he would focus on the need for coordination among the interconnected cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Talisay and the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to allow for a more efficient dredging of waterways such as rivers.

At this point, let me say that if Mayor Labella solves this problem within a year of his administration, he would already earn a second term at the Cebu City Hall, simply because no previous administration has solved this problem ever. His plan to upgrade the 30-year-old traffic light system and adopt a modern system similar to what the cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Talisay are using is something that should have been done a long time ago. At least we can look forward to this development.

Mayor Labella also wants to finish the construction of the Cebu City Medical Center, which is also a high-priority for the poor constituents of Cebu City. Too much politics has intervened in the new CCMC’s construction. Then, finally, he wants to collect all the garbage in the City of Cebu that has remained uncollected.

These are what we call new beginnings for Cebu City. These issues were never given top priority in the past administration. With the Barug-PDP Laban in full control of Cebu City, we will have fewer problems unlike what happened in the past. It was not a surprise that we wanted to effect a new change in our political profile.

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As the pundits used to say, a photo speaks a thousand words. That’s exactly what went on my mind when Talisay City Mayor Gerald “SamSam” Gullas was shown in the front page of SunStar monitoring the Command Center in Talisay City. I’m really glad that Talisay City now has a digitalized traffic monitoring center with 30 CCTV cameras because these cameras can easily monitor a traffic issue anywhere in the city. Mind you, monitoring doesn’t solve the traffic problems but putting strict policies that motorists must abide will solve the problems.

I’d like to suggest to Mayor Samsam that along the South Road Properties (SRP), he could change the ugly traits of the Cebuano drivers who usually drive at the wrong side of the road. If he wants a real change, he should enforce a rule that all trucks and buses must stay on the rightmost lane and other slow moving vehicles stay in the middle lane, while fast moving vehicles stay at the leftmost lane. If he monitored the traffic clearly, he would have noticed that huge lumbering trucks usually use the leftmost lane, while fast moving vehicles are forced to drive at the rightmost lane.

In Europe, Germany has the Autobahn, Italy has the Auto Strada, while France has the Auto Route, and you will notice that buses, trucks and slow-moving vehicles there use the rightmost lane. As for fast-moving vehicles, they use the leftmost. In Germany, they have no speed limit and cars or sports cars travel even at 300 kph on those lanes. So the question is, can Mayor Samsam effect this change and change the attitude of the Cebuano drivers? Abangan.

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