Friday, July 11, 2008 Wenceslao: AIM survey, fare hike and Cesafi By Bong O. Wenceslao Candid Thoughts
MUCH has been said about the competitiveness survey by the Asian Institute and Management (AIM) and of Lapu-Lapu City’s best overall score among metro cities in the Visayas. The comments, however, are more of jumping to conclusion.
Many aspects of that survey need to be understood. One can gloat but it could end up being misplaced.
If you look closely at how Lapu-Lapu City got a high rating, I am sure you won’t find the names of Mayor Arturo Radaza and businessman Efrain Pelaez Jr. there. The survey did not say Radaza is the most honest and innovative mayor in Cebu or that Pelaez is a model businessman. Wait until AIM comes up with a survey on corrupt public execs.
The more interesting development is the success of the Radaza camp in getting the support of big business. This was used by its publicists to hit Pelaez and the Mactan Island Chamber of Commerce and Industry (MICCI) in the face. But expressing support is one thing, clearing Radaza, et al of charges of corruption and incompetence is another.
Anyway, what has become apparent in all these is that the Radaza camp now has a well-oiled publicity machinery and his strategists are learning from past mistakes. The divide and rule strategy is not new and, in this case, the act of pitting a faction of business with another seems to be working. It put into question Pelaez and his group’s past moves.
MICCI and those who still believe in its cause should not be deterred by this setback. The shift in public perception won’t matter if it is able to prove its allegations in court. Only those with honest intentions won’t back off from challenges encountered in the course of advancing just causes. Let’s see if MICCI’s intentions are really honest.
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Because I am an ordinary commuter, I find it hard to accept the recent steep rise in minimum fare, soaring prices of petroleum products notwithstanding. That’s why I get this urge to flog Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB) 7 Director Romulo Bernardes for insisting on P8 minimum fare for jeepneys in Cebu.
What I find galling is that the hikes don’s seem to satisfy drivers. After LTFRB announced the other day that the minimum fare in Metro Manila is P8.50, a transport group is demanding P10. After Bernardes told radio dyLA that minimum jeepney fare in Cebu is P8, a transport group leader said it should have been P8.50. Pastilan bitaw.
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Here’s another issue I am passionate about. I mean, what’s with the Cebu Schools Athletic Foundation Inc. (Cesafi)? After supporting the Samahang Basketbol ng Pilipinas, now led by businessman Manny Pangilinan, against the Basketball Association of the Philippines (BAP) months back, Cesafi has cut half of its heart and gave it back to BAP.
In Cebuano, we call it nilikoy. Let’s be honest about it, the Manny Pangilinan faction of BAP-SBP is the legitimate one, having in its fold the Philippine Basketball Association and the country’s major basketball leagues. Why Cesafi would kowtow to the maneuvering of the faction led by a trapo like Prospero Pichay really amazes me.
I hate to say this, but politics and money do have a say even in such a politically neutral turf like sports. Cesafi’s stance is a shame to us basketball-crazy Cebuanos.
(khanwens@yahoo.com/ my blog: cebuano.wordpress.com)
