Friday, October 20, 2006 Wenceslao: You bet By Bong O. Wenceslao
WITH former senator John "Sonny" Osmeña picking up, with conditions, the P1.5- million bet offered by architect Manuel Guanzon, the debate on whether or not the Cebu International Convention Center (CICC) will be finished on time has become laughable. But that is what happens when politics intrude into the discussion of legitimate concerns.
In the first place, the debate is inane. It's like plucking off one by one the petals of a flower to "know" whether a girl loves you. "She loves me, she loves me not…" The number of petals in a flower won't matter there, only what throbs in the heart of the girl. Or the noise Guanzon and Sonny O is generating won't matter in the CICC case.
If the CICC can't be finished on Nov. 15, the date Guanzon boasted, it can't be finished. If it can't be used by the Asean summit in December, then it can't be used. It's as simple as that. Several factors need to come into play to speed up the construction of a structure. If the factors are not there, then targets won't be achieved---debate or no debate.
What is ironic is that many of those who are insisting that the CICC won’t be finished on time are either not engineers knowledgeable of construction work or worse haven’t entered the site in Mandaue City or observed up close the progress of the work. That’s basing one’s judgment on mata-mata. Isn’t a little knowledge is dangerous?
It is good that Gov. Gwen Garcia has realized that Capitol is in a no-win situation on this issue and has stopped commenting on it. But she should also tell Guanzon to do the same thing. The CICC is an important project and finishing it on time is an important concern. They should not be distracted from that goal by participating in a circus.
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Here’s an interesting TextReax contribution from Rey Encarguez of Tuburan, Cebu: “Please listen to the song ‘Lakbay-lakbay Lang.’ The lyrics mention a cop stealing a visa card, plus other things humiliating to Cebuanos. One can argue about freedom of expression pero ingon na ba lang gyud ta ani kabati? Kami nga taga-probinsya are even promoting our towns for tourism.”
I don’t know if the song is part of the so-called Bisrock wave or not. This is even the first time I heard about it. But if true, then all those concerned should look into the matter. There should be a way to educate composers, especially Bisrock bands, on proper values especially now that they are gaining admirers.
