“THE best birthday present I could ever ask for.”
This was what Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said after the National Economic Development Authority Investment Coordination Committee (Neda-ICC) approved the implementation of the P16.3-billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
Osmeña said the decision of the Neda-ICC, which is chaired by President Rodrigo Duterte, means that the latter has rejected the recommendation of Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino to scrap the multi-billion-peso project.
Osmeña, who celebrated his birthday last July 26, said he is optimistic now that the project will push through.
Osmeña said the BRT project is long overdue, considering that its implementation has been delayed for two years already.
“We are losing millions every month in interest fees because of a failure to implement. Even COA (Commission on Audit) has recommended that charges be filed,” he wrote in his Facebook post.
The World Bank approved in 2014 a financial package of about P7.36 billion (US$141 million) for the Cebu BRT project
Had delays been avoided, such as in the hiring of a technical support consultant, the contract for construction of Package 1 was supposed to have been signed last April. It covers the implementation of the BRT in the South Road Properties-Osmeña Blvd. corridor.
Following the approval of Neda-ICC, City Administrator Nigel Paul Villarete said they will now resume the work on the project and address all backlogs.
Villarete said they prepared a letter to Department of Transportation (DOTr) detailing the aspects of the project that were delayed so the agency will be properly guided.
It was not only Osmeña, however, who received a “gift” when he and his wife, Councilor Margarita Osmeña, celebrated their birthdays last Friday at the Waterfront Cebu City Hotel and Casino.
As a birthday present for the Osmeñas and a gift to the more than 5,000 occupants of the 93-1 lots, Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III and Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said the Provincial Board will approve next week a resolution authorizing Davide to enter into and sign on behalf of the Provincial Government the deed of donation and acceptance on the land swap agreement.
Davide and Magpale were among the guests during the Osmeñas’ birthday celebration.
The City Council has already approved a similar resolution last July 10. The City Government is just waiting for the Province to finalize the exchange.
Mayor Osmeña welcomed the development, saying that the finalization of the deal is overdue.
“They’ve been waiting for so long. (Former mayor Michael) Mike Rama blocked it, (former governor now House Deputy Speaker) Gwen (Garcia) blocked it. We will not allow them to block it anymore. We have to finish this na,” he said.
In December 2016, the council ratified en masse a memorandum of agreement (MOA) on the land swap deal between the City and the Province.
Based on the MOA, the Province will give the City 32 hectares of lots spread across several barangay, which are occupied mostly by urban poor settlers. It will also hand over 1.5 hectares in the Department of Agriculture compound on M. Velez St.; 2,358 square meters on Gorordo Ave. in Barangay Lahug; and 577 square meters on Don Gil Garcia St. in Barangay Capitol Site.
In exchange, the City offered the Province a 2.5-hectare lot in the (South Road Properties) SRP.
It is also proposing to turn over to the Province a 3.3-hectare block behind SM City in Barangay Mabolo; a 2.5-hectare botanical garden behind SM Seaside in SRP; nine hectares in Barangay Pulpogan, Consolacion; the 1.37-hectare lot where the septage treatment plant lot stands; and the 2,476-square-meter lot where the city abattoir stands.
The deal also included returning to Capitol the City’s possession of and rights to its zoo, a condition set by the Province.
The transfer of the Pulpogan property, though, is still pending before the Regional Trial Court Branch 9. RVC, RTF