Osmeña: LRT, BRT or neither?
BEFORE the automobile was invented, towns and cities tended to be compact. By necessity, most urban dwellers lived within easy walking distance of their jobs, the stores where they shopped, and the school their children attended. Stores and offices often had living quarters above it.
The...
Osmeña: Economics of optimum population
ASKING how many people our country or the Earth could support focuses on the wrong question. Instead, our political leaders and the church hierarchy should be asking how many people our country could support at a decent standard of living.
Osmeña: Evaluating energy sources
OUR country, specifically Cebu, needs to determine which mix of energy alternatives might provide primary energy for the future. Our leaders must think and plan in three frames that cover the 50-year period normally needed to develop and phase in new energy sources: the short term (2010 – 2015...
Osmeña: Amend squatting law
THE division and mechanization of labor, the discovery of electricity, and the invention of the telegraph, telephone, internal combustion engine, and many more made possible the rapid industrialization and urbanization of our world.
The rapid shift from diversified farming to...
Osmeña: The homesteaders
THE benefits to society of owning a home is vague and it is reasonable to conclude that individual families should be left alone to decide whether to rent or buy. Yet our government, through the Home Development Mutual Fund and many financial institutions, unfortunately offers the “easy”...
Osmeña: Logic of exemptions
SHOULD corporate private hospitals and learning institution claim business tax exemption? Should their corporate structure being non-stock/stock or non-profit organization be the basis for tax exemption? Then mayor now 2nd district Rep. Tomas Osmeña claimed that the costs of government to...
Osmeña: Excessive judicial filing fee
TITLE to realty is a legal concept that confers upon the holder a lawful claim to all the requisites or elements that constitute ownership. Title gives not only exclusive possession to an owner, but also recourse to legal power to defend his title holdings.
Historically, and prior to the...
Osmeña: Urban Cebu solid waste predicament
WHAT is solid waste? As the gross domestic product of affluent urban Cebu grows, so does one of its major gross domestic by-product---garbage or solid waste.
Unfortunately, local government agencies refused to distinguish between landfills and sanitary landfills in the methods for solid...
Osmeña: Urban Cebu solid waste predicament
WHAT is solid waste? As the gross domestic product of affluent urban Cebu grows, so does one of its major gross domestic by-product---garbage or solid waste.
Unfortunately, local government agencies refused to distinguish between landfills and sanitary landfills in the methods for solid...
Osmeña: Why worry about climate change?
THERE is vigorous debate among climatologists over how the over-all global climate might change and to what degree human activities might influence these changes.
Osmeña: Legislate homestead exemption
HOMESTEAD is a home and land occupied and worked by a family.
Osmeña: City planning dilemma
CITY planning and zoning functions and activities are intended to serve as means toward the accomplishment of desirable social and economic ends.
Osmeña: Realty players and business forecasts
DURING the Marcos regime, the Philippine Tourism Authority (PTA) was created and one of its functions then was to monitor the availability of hotel rooms, to prevent an oversupply.
Osmeña: PNoy’s land use agenda
PRESIDENT Benigno Aquino III’s declaration to implement land use planning is a must today, as hodgepodge development unfolds in the country.
Osmeña: Sensible water policies needed
WITH increasing demand for water and a growing population, is Cebu in danger of running out of usable water? What are the present and future water situations in Cebu?
Osmeña: The Achilles’ heel of nuclear power
REGARDLESS of how Congress and the Department of Energy feel about nuclear power, the major factor shutting down the world’s nuclear industry is economics.
Osmeña: Making decisions on mortgage debt financing
HOW advisable are all-cash payments when the purchaser is financially able to cover them? There was a time when debts, particularly mortgage debts on a home, were considered ill-advised.
Osmeña: Social change and the art of the possible
THE inaugural speech of President Benigno “PNoy” Aquino III calls for social change among the Filipino people.
Osmeña: Where to buy a home
A PROMINENT real estate broker was once asked to name three principles that should guide a purchaser in the selection of a home.
He answered: (1) location, (2) location and (3) location.
Osmeña: The economics of politics
THE political campaign promise of president-elec Noynoy Aquino to eliminate graft and corruption in government will only succeed if and when Congress can introduce new reforms in the government’s bu
Osmeña: Cebu’s planning dilemma
THE primary consideration of city, town or barangay planners is to reduce the per capita urban costs and to facilitate the flow of commerce.
Osmeña: Upcoming realty boom or bust
THE practice of economic forecasting requires tricky scientific methods, but the realty company of today must stock up to meet the anticipated demands of tomorrow.
Osmeña: Development practices at SRP
THE practice of subdividing and developing the South Road Properties (SRP), formerly known as the South Reclamation Project, intrigues many well-meaning people.
Osmeña: Land use control
TRYING to solve or mitigate the problems of Metro Cebu's road network is difficult, complex and costly.
Osmeña: Cebu's land resources
A MAJOR portion of Cebu's wealth is found in its 530,000 hectares of land.
