Thursday, January 03, 2008 Espinoza: Year of the Earth Rat By Elias L. Espinoza Free Zone
THE Chinese zodiac says 2008 is the year of the Earth Rat. The year begins on Feb. 7, 2008 and ends on Jan. 25, 2009 and is a time for hard work, activity, and renewal. I wish our economy can rise above water this year.
For singles, like my compañero Eddie Barrita and Mich So, the year is the appropriate time to marry. For entrepreneurs, it is the right time to launch new products.
People born in the year of the Earth Rat are said to be logical realists, shrewd, charming, ambitious, and inventive. The entire Chinese horoscope, however, should be considered in making a personality assessment.
This perhaps can be a good year for Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña’s South Road Properties (SRP) since some investors are already offering to buy or lease the expensive lots. The reclamation project has put the city in deep financial debt.
Osmeña would not reportedly leave City Hall to anyone else until all the SRP lots, which are worth billions of pesos, are sold. That’s why the name of his wife, Margot, was floated last year as possibly the city’s next mayor.
A reliable source told me that Vice Mayor Mike Rama is still Mayor Tomas’ logical successor in 2010, but that would depend on how fast the SRP lots will be disposed of.
Osmeña, perhaps, was born in the Year of the Rat. He is so clever he would not allow a non-member of his family to look after the SRP.
But his posture is understandable. He had bad experiences when work on the project was still on. This time he wants to have direct control and supervision over it.
For Vice Mayor Rama to become the next Cebu City mayor he should get the imprimatur of the mayor by helping him dispose quickly the SRP lots before 2010. Just don’t ask for a fee for every deal you make, Mike.
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The Cebu City Council pledging to hammer this year priority measures for health, sanitation and drainage is a step in the right direction. Councilors should work hard like a rat. I wish their counterparts in Mandaue City will do the same.
It is about time that cities in Cebu do something about sanitation, drainage and garbage. Among the causes of dengue fever are the city’s idle lots that have stagnant water and decrepit drainage system.
Drainage and sanitation problems and improper garbage disposal are the most common drawbacks in a developing metropolis. We have good laws on sanitation and garbage disposal but it is in the implementation where our local officials failed.
Lack of political will hampers the implementation of sanitation and garbage laws. Rubbish is dumped in the corners of streets or vacant lots in the cities of Cebu, Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu.
Even as the Cebu City mayor inspired the summary killings of ex-convicts, he failed to live up to his mantra of making this city one of the most livable in Asia. As they say, loud talk is like the noise of a shallow river.
Words should be coupled with deeds. And action should mean enforcement of laws and should not just be for public consumption. We’re tired of lip service from our so-called public servants.
Of course, we also have the bounden obligation to observe cleanliness. A clean city means a healthy community. But some people need to be reminded, through the long arm of the law, that they should observe proper sanitation.
