EDITORIAL – Make Cebu City safe again

If a survey-powered online database is to be believed, Cebu City was less safer in 2019 than it was in 2018.

According to Numbeo, Cebu City has slipped in the rankings of the Safest City in the World from 190 to 259. It has also slipped to 66 from 55 in the list of Safest Cities in Asia, and from ninth to 12th in the list of Safest Cities in Southeast Asia.

Some may choose to take this news with grain of salt. Who is Numbeo to rank cities after all? There might have been factors Numbeo forgot to consider in the survey, the survey instrument might be flawed, or they might have chosen the wrong respondents. Anyone can cite many reasons to discredit the findings.

However, there are those who also see this as an urgent matter that needs to be addressed. One of them happens to be Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella.

“We take it as a challenge to improve, especially we will have the whole year to take our active involvement in the peace and order,” he said.

Labella has his work cut out for him; what with a new police chief and big issues in the outside world trickling down to affect us locally. We are also facing competition from other up-and-coming cities in Asia, and even some in our own country, that are fast becoming havens for foreign investors, students, and tourists.

Next year is also going to be a big one for Cebu City, the city cannot afford to become even more unsafe in the eyes of the world, whether by survey or word of mouth.

After all, it’s those same eyes of the world that will be upon this city next March with the celebration of the 500th year of the arrival of Christianity in the Philippines. Even long before that event, Cebu City will become the focus of religious activities because of the Fiesta Señor and well as turn party central in Asia with the Sinulog festivities.

Labella was also right in saying they have a year more to make Cebu City safer. As Cebuanos who stand a lot to gain from the two events next year, we should also do whatever we can to help make the city safe again.