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Saturday, December 10, 2005
Neighbors rap 'Imperial Cebu'
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
DUMAGUETE CITY -- Tired of hearing about so many infrastructure projects for Cebu, government officials from Siquijor and Oriental Negros griped about the lack of attention to their provinces' needs.
Siquijor Governor Orlando Fua, who has long raised the need for an airport to improve access to his province, questioned Friday the proposed resolution on the construction of a parallel runway at the Mactan-Cebu International Airport (MCIA).
Dumaguete City Mayor Agustin Perdices accused Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) director for Central Visayas Juanito Abergas of giving in to "the pressure from officials in Cebu."
Fua and Perdices raised their complaints during the Regional Development Council's (RDC) full council fourth quarter meeting, attended by heads of national line agencies, local officials, and private sector representatives from Central Visayas.
Cebu, Perdices said, is "becoming like Imperial Manila."
It wasn't the first time Cebu took the heat for cornering most of the projects approved for Central Visayas.
In August last year, Fua also objected to a resolution thanking President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo for the proposed transfer of the Department of Tourism head office to Cebu.
He objected to one RDC member's saying that the transfer recognized Cebu's place as "the tourism capital of the region."
Fua had said, "There's Negros and Bohol, but not Siquijor. You should not have an imperialistic attitude. That's why some are complaining that projects are only poured into the province and cities of Cebu."
No pressure
Abergas explained that the parallel runway is not a proposal of the DPWH, but of the RDC's Central Visayas infrastructure development committee (IDC), which is composed of representatives from all the provinces. He just happened to be the one who presented the resolution.
"There is no pressure coming from anyone," the DPWH director said.
Still, Fua questioned the supposed need for the project, citing that there is no congestion problem at the Mactan airport.
Romeo Bersonda, operations head of MCIA, said he agreed with Fua but explained that the parallel runway is part of the plan to prepare the airport for an increase in passengers in the next few years.
He said it was also presented to the IDC by private sector representative Valeriano "Bobit" Avila, who also sits in the MCIA Authority board.
Abergas said that like any project, a feasibility study is yet to be done on proposed parallel runway and the government will need to look for funding for it.
Priorities
That was not the end of it, though.
Perdices continued to lament the seeming lack of attention to their provinces, when the council also took up the proposed resolution for DPWH-Central Visayas to conduct a feasibility study on a third Mactan-Cebu Bridge.
Even before the item was taken up, members of the RDC 7 already started to laugh.
Perdices, however, seriously commented that there are "smaller bridges that are more needed and cost less" that DPWH 7 should prioritize.
He also reminded the RDC of its responsibility to set priorities in projects.
Teresa Fernandez, who heads the social development committee of the RDC, advised Perdices to attend the meetings of the IDC and endorse the projects he wants to be given attention.
Abergas assured that they would not refuse any project endorsed to them, but reminded the full council that the economic viability of any infrastructure has to be considered before it can be built.
Home court
He also said the DPWH lacks personnel to attend to all the projects at the same time.
"You're undermanned and there are so many requests. Why don't you instead focus on pending requests?" Perdies questioned Abergas.
Abergas assured him that he would make sure all pending projects for Dumaguete City are acted on.
"Can I have it before my term ends? If you don't, I'll have to extend my term," he said, laughing.
Oriental Negros Governor George Arnaiz, who is RDC-Central Visayas chairman, said local chief executives also have to follow up on the projects they need.
After staying silent for a few minutes while Fua and Perdices questioned Abergas, Arnaiz said, "You must understand these guys are located in Cebu. I'm not insulting you (Abergas) but we can't expect these guys (DPWH) to do the work for us."
While the resolution on the feasibility study for the third bridge was approved, the body referred the proposal on the airport's parallel runway back to the IDC for study. (Sun.Star Cebu/Sunnex)
(December 10, 2005 issue)
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