AMID calls to stop the P28.78 billion Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project, Transportation Secretary Jaime Bautista said Friday that the project will still push through and that the first of its packages may even be operational in a couple of months.

“Ipagpatutuloy po natin yan. We will continue. As we have discussed with the mayor and the governor, we will push through with the project,” Bautista said in an interview with reporters on the sidelines of the general assembly of the Philippine Coastwise Shipping Association on April 19, 2024 at the Fili Hotel, Nustar Cebu.

Bautista met with Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Thursday night, April 18, and concerns over the CBRT’s implementation were among the things they discussed.

“We agreed to help each other, to coordinate with each other, so that we can continue the construction of the Cebu BRT. Posibling magkaroon ng (It’s possible for there to be a) modification,” he added.

Bautista also met with Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama on Friday morning regarding the CBRT project.

Rama sued the governor on March 20 for meddling in the Department of Transportation (DOTr) project built in the highly urbanized and independent Cebu City, after Garcia ordered contractor Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Co. Ltd. on Feb. 27 to halt CBRT construction activities on Province-owned lots on Osmeña Blvd.

She said the construction work potentially violated a Philippine heritage law, as it appeared to be conducted within the buffer zones of heritage zones. In particular, Garcia complained that the large leaf design of the intended Capitol bus station obstructed the view of the pre-war era Provincial Capitol building.

Suspend packages

Since the start of the civil works on the CBRT Package 1 in March 2023, delays and controversies have marred the project, the most recent of which was the call of the Cebu City Council at its regular session last Wednesday to suspend the implementation of Packages 2, 3 and 4 of the CBRT project, and to change the route of the project.

Last March 25, the National Commission for Culture and the Arts (NCCA) requested the proponent DOTr to submit an Archeological Impact Assessment and development plans for the project for the NCCA’s approval before resuming work on Capitol-owned lots in the area.

Bautista said there is a possibility of modifications in the CBRT project, including the redesigning of the bus station. However, he stressed that the modifications must be approved by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda), and the project funders, meaning the World Bank and the French Development Agency.

No change

But in a text message on Friday, CBRT project manager Norvin Imbong told SunStar Cebu that the design of the bus station along Osmeña Blvd. in front of the Cebu Capitol Building going to the Fuente Osmeña Rotunda will remain the same due to the difficulty of redesigning it.

Imbong added that CBRT implementers are working to comply with the heritage impact assessment, with the DOTr central office already having hired a third-party proponent to formulate the assessment.

Bautista, on the other hand, said he will review the call of some local officials to stop the project.

“Ang tinatapos lang natin ay (The only thing we are completing is) Package 1, but we will work with them kasi (because) this is a very important project of the Department (of Transportation) as it will benefit the Cebuanos,” Bautista said.

“Overall, we are looking for partial operations, siguro mga (maybe in) June of this year,” he added.

The CBRT, a priority project of the Marcos Jr. administration, has a budget allocation of P28.78 billion. It spans 35.28 kilometers.

The project, first intended to be completed in 2025 but moved to 2027, is divided into four packages.

Package 1 covers the route from Osmeña Boulevard to the South Bus Terminal (2.38 kilometers); Package 2, route from the South Road Properties (SRP), Barangay Mambaling, and Escario St., Capitol, and Gorordo Ave. (10.8 km); Package 3, routes from the Cebu IT Park to Barangay Talamban and from the SRP to Talisay City.

Package 4 will feature a dedicated lane from barangays Bulacao to Mambaling, extension of the alignment from Ayala to Cebu IT Park, a rotunda underneath the Mambaling flyover, and the conversion of a mixed traffic lane along the coastal road at the SRP and F. Vestil St.

The CBRT project is expected to cater to 60,000 passengers daily in its first year of operation, and up to 160,000 passengers once fully operational, according to the DOTr.

Trial run

Majority of the members of the Cebu City Council once again called to suspend the civil works of the second to fourth packages of the CBRT, but this time, only for six months while a trial run for the Barangay Bulacao to Ayala route is conducted.

Last February, the Council had called for the suspension of the remaining packages, without indicating the duration for the suspension, saying only that the suspension should be undertaken to give time to observe the Package 1 operations to help determine if the CBRT really works, as well as to address the challenges to acquire the lots needed for the succeeding CBRT packages.

The Council also unanimously agreed Wednesday, April 17, to request Mayor Rama to convene a CBRT Technical Working Group to discuss the option of a City-operated trial run of a CBRT route from Bulacao to Ayala while the three remaining packages of the CBRT are suspended.

But the proposed trial run did not sit well with some councilors, who said a TWG study must be done before conducting the trial run.

Fix the project

Cebu City Councilor James Anthony Cuenco, who chairs the committee on transportation and who has been a critic of the CBRT project, said in his privilege speech on Wednesday that there is still a chance to fix the mass transport system project through the steps presented by mass transportation expert and consultant Rene Santiago.

Cuenco said that according to Santigao, there could be three ways the CBRT project could proceed with the suspension of the remaining packages after the completion of Package 1: Conduct a dry run for the Bulacao to Ayala route; have exclusive bus lanes but no re-paving of roads, and just use temporary cost-effective bus stations; and for the Cebu City Government to take over with the Neda and the DOTr observing.

“That is why I have presented my speech not to counter-argue, but to clarify. By coming together with open minds, we can chart a path forward that will ensure that this project is implemented not as a reckless battle but as a strategic operation,” said Cuenco.

But Councilor Nestor Archival questioned the proposal, saying that during the executive session last April 3 where Santiago was present, he was not able to answer how he intended to perform his suggestions.

“During the executive session, he was telling us that he can do that within six months, but he can’t prove it. He can’t tell us how,” said Archival.

Cuenco said he met with Santiago after the executive session and the traffic expert told him what steps to be taken for the project within six months, but he can’t reveal these yet “because the Department of Transportation might copy.”

Archival, in response, said he preferred convening the TWG first and have it conduct a study immediately and give a report to the Council on the feasibility of a trial run.

These concerns prompted Archival not to vote for the measures presented by Cuenco.

Other members of the minority bloc, Councilors Joy Augustus Young, Mary Ann de los Santos and Jose Lorenzo Abellanosa, also voted no to the measures presented by Cuenco.

Association of Barangay Councils president Franklyn Ong, meanwhile, abstained from voting, saying his concerns on who will operate the CBRT and what type of buses traverse the CBRT route remained unanswered by the transportation agency.

Wrong route

In his privilege speech, Cuenco also said that during an executive session on April 3, 2024, engineers Santiago and Nigel Paul Villarete suggested that Package 1 of the CBRT project could have been implemented elsewhere instead of Osmeña Boulevard.

Their reasons included the short distance of the CBRT route from the South Bus Terminal to the Capitol, the presence of numerous crosswalks along the route, and the possibility of simpler BRT station designs to save time and money.

They said the current BRT routes primarily connect commercial centers like the Ayala mall and Cebu IT Park, rather than residential areas as originally intended.

They also questioned the request for a depot in SRP, which they argued was not aligned with the BRT’s original purpose.

Instead, they proposed considering an alternative route via Fuente to Gen. Maxilom Ave. if the public prefers avoiding Capitol, while maintaining the start and end points in Barangays Bulacao and Talamban.

The session concluded that there is no reason not to suspend Packages 2 and 3 while exploring the possibility of streamlining the route to a direct path from Bulacao to Ayala or Talamban.

Misconceptions

Cuenco also responded to former mayor Tomas Osmeña’s warning of a possible blacklisting by donor nations if the CBRT project were to be halted, by saying that the cancellation of foreign state loans for large-scale projects has not always resulted in negative repercussions.

He said in 2016, a $300 million e-trike project loan from the Asian Development Bank was canceled due to lack of buyers and high manufacturing costs.

He added that in 2022, a $64.6 million loan for the BRT Line 1 project from Quezon Ave. to España Blvd. was canceled by agreement between the government and the World Bank.

He also said that in 2023, a $172 million loan from South Korea for the proposed New Cebu International Container Port expired with the project only one percent complete.

In too deep

Cuenco said another misconception is that the CBRT project has progressed too far and a significant portion of its loan has been spent, making it impossible to halt.

However, he said during their session, that the Department of Public Works and Highways and the Cebu City’s Lot Acquisition Committee revealed that only half of the project’s budget is allocated for land acquisition.

He said no letter-offers had been served to lot owners yet, so half of the project budget remains unspent, with only time being wasted.

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