Editorial: Collateral damage

DEPARTMENT of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) officials should have known better than being caught in the crossfire between warring political factions. Or at least they should have been careful in acting on projects in such “politically charged” grounds as Cebu City.

Budget for the road improvement projects came from the realignment of the overpass project Osmeña proposed for Barangay Lahug. The balancing act prior to the project implementation would have been for DPWH officials to inform Mayor Michael Rama about it. They didn’t and the realization of the projects is now in jeopardy.

To be fair, Osmeña is reportedly open to the possibility that the implementation of the projects until after the 2013 elections. He must have realized that it is futile to tangle with the incumbent mayor on the issue, as he can come up with pretenses to block the DPWH plan.

Interestingly, one of Rama’s “pretenses” is the supposed traffic gridlock if the projects are implemented simultaneously. That sounds familiar considering that Osmeña also used traffic as “pretense” to prevent Capitol from going ahead with its Ciudad project.

This just shows that from now until after the 2013 elections, the city’s constituents should not expect the implementation of meaningful projects in the city. Osmeña can very well retaliate by urging the Bando Osmeña-Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK)-controlled city council to deprive funding for the mayor’s proposed projects.

After all, what is involved in these projects is not just credit grabbing but funding for the election campaign next year. For the past months already, both Osmeña and Rama have been finding ways to cut off each others’ fund source and cripple each others’ electoral campaign.

The collateral damage, as always, is on the city’s constituents.