CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña threatened to file criminal charges against members of the Regional Development Council (RDC) 7 who will endorse the proposed Light Rail Transit (LRT) project, if the project is proven to be anomalous.

And for the first time in recent years, he will attend next month’s meeting of the RDC 7 to personally warn the officials of the consequences of endorsing it, including a complaint for graft and corruption.

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Gov. Gwen Garcia chairs the RDC 7.

The mayor said he will do everything he can to fight the LRT project and to warn Cebuanos not to allow Cebu to be used as an excuse for graft and corruption, like what happened in the lamp post deal.

If he gets a chance to speak with President Gloria Arroyo today, he will take up the matter with her. He said Arroyo may not even be aware of the project.

Tomas and his cousin John Henry “Sonny” Osmeña said it is clear that the proponents are rushing the project so the borrowed funds will be released before the elections.

Sign from Tomas

At the governor’s front, Capitol spokesperson Rory Jon Sepulveda said, “Tomas, it seems, is again on a threatening mood. A sign that he does not know what to do.”

Sonny, for his part, also questioned the haste with which the LRT was being pushed for approval.

But he directed the question at Rep. Eduardo Gullas, (Cebu, 1st district), who authored House Bill 7479, which was for the LRT project.

Reps. Raul del Mar (Cebu City, north district) and Antonio Cuenco (Cebu City, south) co-authored the bill.

Sonny said Gullas’s bill has been there for 13 years and the Department of Transportation and Communication has yet to come up with its study.

Unlike Tomas who voiced his suspicion that the US$600 million would be used as campaign funds in the 2010 elections, Sonny wondered why the project was being brought up now.

He said Arroyo’s term is going to end in a few months.

Tomas, for his part, said he will also publish in a local newspaper anytime this week a position paper detailing how the proposed LRT is similar to Manila’s $679-million Metro Rail Transit (MRT) 3, which he said is causing billions in losses to the National Government each year.

With annual revenues of P2.1 billion and annual expenses of P8.9 billion per year, the average subsidy from the National Government required for the next 20 years is P6.8 billion per year.

Case for BRT

The mayor has rejected the LRT project and has endorsed the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) instead.

“We will try to make this case that this is anomalous and it’s disadvantageous to the government, and to pave the way that anyone who will endorse it will be charged with graft,” Osmeña said yesterday.

When sought for clarification, he said he will file a graft complaint against those who will endorse the LRT only when it’s proven to be anomalous, “but I’m almost sure it’s anomalous.”

Ongoing study

Osmeña said the study the City commissioned for the operation of the BRT in Cebu City is ongoing, but proponents of the LRT are trying to stop it and have concluded that the LRT is the better option for Cebu.

At the RDC meeting, he said he will bring video cameras and his own witnesses, and will invite members of the media to witness who among the council members endorsed the $600 million project.

“Later on, if we find out it’s an anomalous situation, we will go back to all those who endorsed in the RDC. I will appear in that meeting and I’ll make it very clear to them that ‘those of you who will endorse this, we will file criminal charges’,” said Osmeña.

In his news conference yesterday, the mayor said he regretted not speaking out against the lamp post deal when he saw the anomaly before the project was implemented. Two mayors and other local officials face graft charges because of the lamp post contract.

This time, Osmeña said he will speak out to protect the interest of the City.

“I’m really going to fight. I’m going to attend the RDC meeting because this is very critical. I don’t need anything from the RDC, I just want to stop this abuse,” he said.

Osmeña has not been attending meetings of the council, whose members include four provincial governors in Central Visayas, the mayors, regional directors of National Government agencies and representatives from the private sector, among others.

He will also discuss during the meeting the MRT 3 project, which, he said, is the same with the proposed LRT for Cebu.

According to a document prepared by the mayor’s source, who is knowledgeable on the MRT 3, an inter-agency committee has recently checked the commercial viability of MRT 3 and learned that it is not commercially viable for now. (LCR/RHM/RSA)