Editorial: 'Hunger games'

Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera
Editorial Cartoon by Josua Cabrera

CEBUANOS who rely on public transport from school or work early in the morning just know how dystopian the situation is. They activate into survival mode, like in the fictional Hunger Games, except that they aren’t in some imagined world, but in a real one.

One gets to see just how disproportionate the number of public transport and the droves of denizens spilling out into the streets—consider Bulacao and Banilad—chasing after jeepneys and squeezing themselves into every imaginable space.

We don’t know if by Michael Dino’s standards the scenario is still within the threshold of humane. The Presidential assistant for the Visayas has a thing in his mind that deviates from the original plan of Cebu’s BRT project. It’s just phasing, not cutting the route, he was quick to react.

Last week, Rep. Raul Del Mar (Cebu City, North District) delivered a privilege speech calling for a House hearing questioning the reported changes in Cebu City’s BRT plan. He needed answers on the route changes from the Department of Finance (DOF) and the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda).

The original route starts from Barangay Bulacao, in the southern part of Cebu City, to Barangay Talamban in the northern part, passing through the city’s Central Business District (CBD). One knows that that route hauls just the bulk of the populace that needed most the mobility.

“The more livable area of Cebu City is a strip between the mountains and the sea, with more people living in the north and south but work in the CBD during the day. And most of the colleges and universities are in the CBD too, which makes the same arduous journey for students. That is why the original BRT route was drawn along those corridors,” said Del Mar in his speech.

The reported “new” BRT route starts at the South Road Properties and ends at the IT Park. If this forms part of a phase, as Dino claims, well, this is misplaced priority.

“The bulk of the problem,” said Del Mar, “is in the Bulacao and Talamban zones. Where the BRT is mostly needed.” Just who will benefit from a BRT route that starts from the SRP to IT Park?

The new route, said Del Mar, practically cuts the original length by almost 50 percent, from 23 kilometers to 13 kilometers.

“Even a little boy knows that changing the starting point from Bulacao to the South Road Properties is shortening and not phasing. Changing the end point from Talamban to IT Park is likewise shortening and not phasing,” said Del Mar.

The congressman is asking for “practical bases” for the reported route change. He is also asking if the revisions were approved through proper channels. Do the DOF and Neda agree with amendments on loan agreements with the World Bank and other funding agencies?

There is plenty of good reason that Cebuanos must rally behind the good congressman in sticking to the original BRT route plan, which apparently will benefit them the most.

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