Groundwork for mobility summit starts

CEBU, Philippines — The Cebu City government has started its discussion on the possible topics for the upcoming mobility summit in the city.

As reported by the city’s Public Information Office (PIO), the convenor’s group for the activity, led by the Office of Councilor James Anthony Cuenco who chairs the City Council’s Committee on Transportation, began their meeting on Thursday, July 7, 2022, to discuss their preparations for the event.

The Cebu City Transportation Office (CCTO), the Sugbo Bike Lanes Board, and the Office of the Mayor through Reymarr Hijara, the mayor’s executive assistant, will assist the group.

In their initial meeting, the group brainstormed on the possible matters to be tackled during the mobility summit.

“Mayor Mike (Rama) wants this to be scheduled earlier so we already have to discuss and come up with a title and theme for the summit,” said Hijara.

With this, the mobility summit is expected to be conducted within the next two months.

CCTO Spokesperson Paul Gotiong presented to the group their prepared initial implementation plan.

Based on the plan, the group would engage with the different stakeholders to gather initial issues and concerns that need to be discussed during the summit proper.

He added that they have also started communicating to interested sponsors for the event.

“We have to invite LGUs and stakeholders. There should be an expo, talks, exhibits, and maybe breakout sessions. But we still have to finalize on that,” said Gotiong.

The working committee will meet again next week to continue preparations for the mobility summit.

It was initially dubbed as a “traffic summit,” but was renamed to “mobility summit” to make the activity more comprehensive.

In his inaugural speech on June 30, Rama stated his desire to hold the summit within his first 100 days, and for the city government to act right away on its outputs.  —   JMD (FREEMAN)