Wednesday, August 22, 2007 Osmeña: Politicians’ role By Antonio V. OsmeÑa Estatements
THE unprecedented economic growth of Cebu is inherently due to the quality of its inhabitants.
Unfortunately, the respect and admiration of the people towards traditional politicians during the Don Sergio Osmeña Sr. era are long gone because of the rampant graft and corruption in government, which has tainted the integrity of our traditional politicians.
It might be worthwhile for our trapos to realize that their political careers make up only a micro-second part of the life of Cebu and may be forgotten forever.
To regain their image, our trapos should work together to promote balanced community growth and establish an efficient — and most economical (the highest and best value) — land uses. They should develop a comprehensive master plan for the entire islands of Cebu.
As a rule, financial problems pose the greatest handicap on city planning.
There are other problems, of course, concerning legal, social and technical aspects of guiding the orderly growth of a community but these are generally subsidiary to the problem of financing the improvements that are called for in the master plan.
Civic leaders may rightfully oppose a comprehensive city plan until the effect of proposed expenditures on real estate taxes and assessments are known. Investors, speculators and home owners, too, are interested in how the anticipated benefits and the incidence of the tax burden will influence the value of privately held land.
It must also be determined whether improvement costs are to be borne by abutting land owners, in accordance with “the benefit received” theory or whether they are to be borne by the citizens as a whole in accordance with the “ability to pay” concept.
Many comprehensive city plans become dormant because of the failure to solve economic issues upon which, in the final analysis, the master plan depends.
The hodgepodge master plan of our trapos since 1945 –and which is still being done until now — must conform to planning principles and practices.
Principles of city planning serve as guides to the practical attainment of community objectives. A prime consideration of city planners is to reduce per capita urban costs and to facilitate the flow of commerce.
The success of such efforts is important, because property values depend upon the efficient and economical flow of goods and persons, and the ready and convenient access to modes of transportation.
To achieve the objective of traffic economy, a study must be made of traffic requirements and steps taken to provide adequate avenues of transport. Rapid and economical transportation offers significant opportunities to direct population flow in and about the city.
It is no longer deemed good practice to follow population in congested areas with more means of transportation and thus generally increase or aggravate congestion problems. It has been shown, though, that people can be made to follow avenues of transport into areas that are planned and designed for better and more healthful living.
To facilitate the movement of goods and people in and about Metro Cebu, streets and highways should be designed and interconnected to meet normal as well as “rush hour” traffic requirements. Care should be taken to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of each of the several types of street pattern, and to chose those which will facilitate travel and increase pedestrian and highway traffic safety.
The proper design and layout of streets is important because the very rapid development and use of the private automobile has created for city planners a real problem of easing traffic congestion in urban centers. It must be considered that the streets of Cebu were designed for the use of animal drawn vehicles.
In traditional linear politics, if someone wins, someone else must lose (a win-lose game). It is about time our trapos practice sustainable earth value system emphasazing cooperation, rather than competition (a win-win game).
