Before term ends in 2016, Rama promises a better Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines - Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama yesterday spent a big bulk of his second State of the City Address (SOCA) enumerating what he plans to accomplish before his term ends in 2016.

“We have promised to continue the works we have previously started, guided by our vision of making Cebu City a livable and sustainable community with a dynamic, healthy, productive and active constituency playing a vital role in managing our resources with the end view of achieving our mission of bringing back the hope of the youth and the children to trust government,” Rama said.

“We shall continue to show and deliver super service to our constituents. I, as your mayor will not be deterred by some snags and adverse observations of others agencies and institutions in the way we are managing and delivering our services to the people. I challenge anyone, even as I can look them directly in the eye, and say to them in all candor and humility, that your mayor is not tainted with any shreds of corruption,” mayor, in his SOCA, said.

Under the 3Ps, Rama said his administration was able to create special programs like City Hall at Your Doorsteps, which aims to bring services to households for the convenience of the general public; the Reduce Danger Zone Project, which aims to save the rivers in the city and clear the drainage, as well as implement the three-meter easement along riverbanks.

Rama said the city is working on the funding for the reconstruction of the decades-old Cebu City Medical Center, which was damaged severely by the magnitude 7.2 earthquake that hit Central Visayas last year.

“Our effort to raise the needed funds for its rebuilding is continuing and had shown great promise. I have told all of you then, and I will tell you again now, I do not mind being labeled a professional beggar in the annals of history,” Rama said.

“But for this noble cause, I will continue to beg, in my own way, to anybody who cares, be he a person or be it an institution, in order to raise the needed funds that will bring back the people’s hospital,” he added.

Rama promised City Hall employees that “this administration gives full support to this endeavor by providing available lots for housing which includes among others the Sugbo Homes and Citicenter property”.

For senior citizens, persons with disabilities, solo parents and children in conflict with law, Rama said the city will enhance the delivery and efficacy of extending financial aid to them.

Livelihood for residents here and apportion land to the landless remain a priority. The mayor pointed out that with their continuing efforts to hold job placement activities, the city government was awarded the 2013 Regional Best PESO Highly Urbanized local government unit.

Rama said that together with the police and the Peace and Order Coordinating Council, the city is working on deterring, if not lowering the crime rate and rampant illegal drug use.

The mayor has reiterated his order for the city police to “act and arrest big fish (drug lords; drug syndicates).”

“Shape up or ship out,” he told the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO).

“We will allocate funds in the budget for police cars. In motivating our police force, we look for funds, not focusing on rewards to tipster but for the awards of heroic policemen performing under exceptional circumstances,” he added.

Also, Rama said the city is on an “all-out war against garbage,” a war that he said the Department of Public Services must wage at the barangay level.

He pointed out that the 13 to 15 hectares of area at Inayawan Sanitary Landfill must be converted into an open space as another “business opportunity”.

In the area of education, Rama said the K to 12 system has to be tackled “seriously”. He said the lack of emergency exits in public schools here must be looked into. A budget P22 million has been allocated for education matters.

“Government should be proactive in order to avoid issues like losing one’s job as experienced among teachers in college and the lack of facilities in high school. Government should take a paradigm shift in the utilization of the Special Education Fund in order to address the requirements of the K to  12 particularly on hiring more teachers,” he said.

To address concerns on road traffic and safety, Rama said he will draft an Executive Order that puts in place u-turn slots; constructs flares on intersections; widens roads; establish no left turn policies; especially in the Banilad-Talamban area; and establish one-way or two-way streets, particularly at the Carbon Market.

The city also plans to open a “Magellan’s Park” beside the Senior Citizen’s Park near the City Hall, build a children’s park beside the old Pasil Fish Market, and restore the heritage value of the San Nicolas Parish Church.

Rama said the city continues to work on resolving the long-standing 93-1 issue with a concrete resettlement plan, to complete the concreting of all farm-to market roads, to beautify S. Osmeña Boulevard, and to establish communal toilets in villages and communities in coastal areas.

Accomplishments

For four years in a row, the city implemented drainage projects amounting to P250 million, spanning around 7,000 linear meters of drainage lines.

The city has also asphalted around 40,665 lineal meters of road worth P183 million and concreted around 33,215 lineal meters worth P265.7 million.

Several reblocking and widening projects were accomplished particularly in Barangays T. Padilla, Bato-Ermita, Carreta, Tejero and Lorega, which was recently hit by a huge blaze that ruined millions worth of properties. Also, infrastructures were built like the City Hall satellite office in Barangay Taptap (City Hall sa Bukid). Construction is ongoing for the Office of the City Civil Registrar building.

In line with the mayor’s mandate to increase the collections and revenues of the city, the city would be collecting P870 million from the P29 billion Taxable Assessed Value of taxable real properties, if collected properly, based on the assessment and no-nonsense valuation by the City Assessor’s Office.

“As we are now able to determine the city’s worth and potential, the city treasurer’s office likewise embarked on an aggressive tax collection effort. This we did without necessarily increasing the tax rates,” Rama said.

Rama said the city has enough funds with P1.7 billion cash-in-bank, contrary to the earlier reports that the city is “bankrupt”.

Reaction

Councilor Alvin Dizon said he will cooperate with Rama in promoting land tenure and elevating the lives of the disadvantaged.

“We will try to cooperate with the mayor especially in the area of promoting land tenure… strategic and responsive to the field needs of our constituents,” he said.

Majority Floor Leader Margarita Osmeña said, “I hope what he says is so. As it comes, we will look and see.” She said Rama should learn how to “prioritize” projects based on the available sources of funds in order not to “deprive other projects that he himself mentioned”.

“We never blocked (Rama’s projects). Just show us the money. Who doesn’t want what he said? Let’s say, how will he do it? We can’t approve at the same time (with limited budget)…  one by one… maybe it’s up to him to prioritize. We never stopped any selling… we didn’t tell him he can’t,” she said.

“We haven’t used the P300 million (CCMC construction) Remember the biggest part of the supplemental budget (SB-1) this year came from realignment of DEPW projects particularly drainage projects. Of this year, you can see the floods are coming. Don’t we need those drainage projects? But let’s put things in the proper places. And don’t just keep on putting the money there without using it,” she added. – (FREEMAN)