Revival of City Hall sa Bukid pushed

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City Council is opening its doors to bring City Hall services to the upland areas to address the extensive travel time and expenses that residents have to endure when obtaining documents from the City Government.

During the first regular session for 2025 of the Cebu City Council yesterday, Councilor Pastor "Jun" Alcover stood before the body to deliver his privilege speech, raising the concerns of the residents from the city's upland areas.

During the session, the City Council requested the Office of the City Mayor to study the possibility of assigning more personnel from various departments to the Cebu City Resource Management and Development Center (CREMDEC) to cater to the needs of upland residents.

Alcover said that residents have been expressing concerns about the extra expenses they incur to process documents at the Cebu City Hall. He pointed out that it is no longer uncommon to hear how difficult it is to live in the mountain barangays, especially when they must travel down to process documents, such as permits, among others.

“Akong nasabtan nga di jud lalim ang maong kasinatian labi na sa kamahal sa plitehan gikan sa kabukiran, busy kaayo ang traffic, so maglisod gyud sila sa pag sige'g naug-balik ngadto sa ilang lugar,” said Alcover.

He also explained that once these residents arrive in the city, the long queues they have to endure also add up to the challenges they face.

Alcover recalled that back in 2011, there was a project aimed at establishing City Hall services in the upland areas. The project was then called City Hall sa Bukid.

According to him, it was during the term of then mayor Michael Rama that the project was launched.

However, Alcover expressed concern about how the project was overlooked at a later time.

“It is a matter of consistency and continuity of programs with various administrations in the City Government,” said Alcover.

Alcover emphasized the need to expand the City Hall services in the upland areas to provide greater accessibility to residents there.

“It is a form of recognition that there is a substantial distinction in terms of accessibility and potential between upland and urban constituents in the city,” said Alcover.

With this, Alcover hopes the project can be revived and expanded, bringing the services of the City Government closer to upland constituents and blurring out democratic sentiments. — /JG (FREEMAN)