In defense of Carbon - Part 4

The modernization of Carbon, whatever you may call the contract/agreement is, in whatever legal parlance, jargon, semantics or euphemism, is simply PRIVATIZATION.

Why? These are the undebatable facts:

Who will demolish and construct Carbon? The private entity not Cebu City.

Who will set the rate, regulate, and collect the fees and rentals of the stalls and spaces? The private entity not Cebu City.

Who will manage the proposed “modernized” Carbon? The hiring and firing of the employees and personnel of the hotels, buildings, terminals, and other structures? The private entity and not Cebu City.

Add to the fact that there is already a schedule on the yearly increase of the space/stall rentals. The deception must be answered by showing to the Cebuanos the Joint Venture Agreement. Let the Cebuanos examine it, not just the few collaborators of Cebu City Hall.

This will be the onerous scheme for the 50-year leasehold, extendable for another 25 years. The city no longer collects fees and manages the market, for it has abandoned it duty, couched in the phrase JOINT VENTURE.

The privatization of Carbon is all about profit and commission. The boasted P5.5 billion is an investment, not a charity, it is therefore never about the welfare of Cebu City, the Cebuanos, the vendors, and the residents of Carbon and the barangay it is situated.

It is a tragedy that there are those who have sworn to defend Cebu City who have abrogated in their duties. We defend Carbon not just because it is a heritage site, but it is because it is the home of thousands of Cebuanos whose families have lived and made their livelihood in the market more than a century ago.

We are not just defending the structures and sites of Carbon but the very inhabitants of the market, the living, and the spirits of the old Lutao District that have inhabited it even before the arrival of the Spaniards. We are defending one of the last standing armies of the Cebuano Soul.

The private entity whom the collaborators of the leasehold of Carbon Market are dealing with is a business entity, it is not a charity or a foundation. Never fool the Cebuanos, the officials of City Hall just come and go, but the true and genuine Cebuanos stay and will continue to be the guardians and defenders of the city.

 God Bless Cebu City and long live the Cebuanos.