A letter to Tomas

Dear Sir:

A friend called my attention to a letter of Mr. Tommy Osmeña published in the 29 November 2013 issue of a local daily. In that letter, Mr. Osmeña mentioned my name in reference to the South Coastal Road. He stated: "Did you know that Primitivo Cal, who has a Ph.D. in land transportation, computed the viability of the South Coastal Road to less than 1 percent IRR (Internal Rate of Return)? So I fired him with no regrets. He said the internal rate of return (that's traffic in plain language) is so low because few vehicles go to the south. So I put the South Coastal Road and now everyone goes there."

I do not know the motive of Mr. Osmeña in concocting lies but unfortunately for him, his lies are easily exposed because the MCLUTS plan is an official document and also found in several publications (See for example, the October 1981 issue of the Philippine Planning Journal). The MCLUTS Plan clearly shows the South Reclamation Project and the South Coastal Road. If I computed the IRR of the South Coastal Road at less than one percent, then why would I include it in the plan? Incidentally, my Ph.D. is in transportation planning, not in land transportation.

He also lied when he said that I was fired. The fact is that I resigned with no regrets. At that time, I was also the Dean of UP College Cebu. One job had to give way to enable me to devote part of my time to prepare for the Bar Examination. I luckily passed and am now also practicing Law, together with my engineering and environmental planning professions, as an accredited construction arbitrator. I realized later from the actuations of Mr. Osmeña that I failed to explain fully to him the circumstances of my resignation.

On another note, for over a decade now MCLUTS does not have a successor plan. At last, the JICA launched just last month the "Study on the Roadmap for Sustainable Urban Development of Metro Cebu." I am part of the Japanese consulting firm engaged by JICA to undertake the study which will run until March 2015.

Finally, I hope that you will find a space in your newspaper to publish this letter.

Very truly yours,

Primitivo C. Cal

Former Dean of UP School of Urban and Regional Planning

Undersecretary for Transportation