For our special presentation on our talk show, “Straight from the Sky,” we bring you a serious discussion on Federalism… whether it is good for us in the Philippines or not. There is no doubt that our struggle against the stranglehold of Imperial Manila has reached a feverish high. This is why amongst the presidentiables, Davao City Mayor Rodrigo Duterte is rating high amongst the other possible presidential candidates because he always talks about the shift to a federal system for the Philippines.
I’m not really pushing for Duterte because of his links with the Communists and his position believing and pushing for same sex marriage, which many of us are all against. But unfortunately, amongst the presidentiables only Duterte is talking about the need to shift to Federalism.
So tonight, we have with us my good friend, DyRF radio commentator and president of the Movement for Federalism Mr. Alex Bolongaita. Some years ago, Alex and I were speakers on Federalism and we still share similar views on this concept. So watch this very interesting show on Federalism on SkyCable’s channel 61 at 8:00 tonight with replays on Wednesday and Saturday same time slot. We also have replays on MyTV channel 30 at 9:00 tonight and at 7:00AM and 9:00PM on Wednesday and Fridays.
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Last Saturday night, I drove from the house to Plantation Bay and it took me a full hour, not because traffic was heavy in Cebu City or even in traffic-notorious Mandaue. Traffic started to crawl at the old Mactan Bridge and got worse as we got into Mactan Doctors’ Hospital and along Gaisano Grand. Frankly speaking, I didn’t want to pass this route because I anticipated that traffic would be bad. But since traffic was light in Mandaue that Saturday at 6:00PM, I took my chance and boy was I wrong!
I don’t know what the Traffic enforcers are doing but this major road that leads to our top tourism spots needs to be looked into seriously and I challenge the City of Lapu-Lapu to find ways to solve its traffic problem especially that next year elections are coming. So let’s hear from you guys who were elected by the people of Lapu-Lapu to fix this problem.
I know that the resort owners suffer in silence because people like me no longer drive to the resorts in Mactan for lunch or dinner because traffic there is just unbearable. But it is the majority of the poor people living in the area who suffer most from the clogged traffic. So if you folks in charge of the Lapu-Lapu City government can’t fix the problem, then please, please, do not seek reelection in the coming 2016 elections. We’re not talking about egos here! The people of Lapu-Lapu deserve better!
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Last Wednesday, Cebu Governor Hilario Davide III held his State of the Province Address speaking of improving the lives of farmers and rolling out those disaster and risk reduction programs in the towns of Cebu province. We have to talk to farmers to see whether this is true or not. Then he boasted about bagging national awards on good governance as if it was the pinnacle of his career! Excuse me, Mr. Governor… getting national awards from the people who run Daang Matuwid is nothing to brag about!
In my book, your doing nothing for the Province of Cebu isn’t good governance! Please don’t take it from me, ask the ordinary man on the street what he thinks about you! If at all, you should thank Vice Governor Agnes Magpale for doing so many things that you should be doing! Her stellar performance all the more makes you very small. If the Province of Cebu bagged that good governance award, a large part of it was done by VG Magpale
Worse of all, I was totally horrified at your understanding of the needs of Cebu, especially in the tourism sector. Your calling the Cebu International Convention Center “an P840 million mistake that we inherited” and blaming former Governor Gwen Garcia only proves to us Cebuanos that you’re not much different from your “Boss” Pres. Benigno Aquino III who spent his five years as president blaming everything to his predecessor. Indeed, that phrase “Birds of the same feather flock together” is the right description for the two of you!
Let me say it very clearly here and I have already written about this many times before that when the Marcos dictatorship built the Philippine International Convention Center, our neighbors like Hong Kong, Singapore or Taiwan could only drool in envy. Today, the PICC is so much behind what they have. When we had the CICC, we had many international gatherings that would not come to Cebu.
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For email responses to this article, write to vsbobita@mozcom.com or vsbobita@gmail.com. His columns can be accessed through www.philstar.com.