Those who have been traveling to the north of Cebu and back to Cebu City must have noticed an enormous building undergoing construction behind or beside the Liloan’s Municipal Hall with the huge sign New City Hall. Are the local officials pitching for their town’s upgrade to a city? Wow!
I don’t think converting Liloan town to a city would be a problem if it has reached the minimum required population and income because Cebu’s 5th District Rep. Duke Frasco is Liloan’s native and the former mayor for three terms before he ran for congressman in the district, which comprises Danao City and the towns of Liloan, Compostela and the towns on Camotes Group of Islands.
Consider that Congressman Duke’s wife Christina, the mayor and now the secretary of tourism after she accepted the nomination, and his mother-in-law is Cebu Gov. Gwen Garcia. Such an upgrade of Liloan to a city would be just like a walk in the park, not to mention that Duke is President-elect BBM’s leader in the last elections in his district, while his wife Christina was the spokesperson of Vice President-elect Sara Duterte-Carpio.
With Mayor Frasco’s acceptance as the next Tourism secretary, her Vice Mayor-elect Aljew Frasco, the cousin of Duke, will be the next town mayor (or should I say city mayor?) So, with the political power within the family in Liloan, there is no reason why the officials’ plan to convert their town into a city would be a problem.
But there are some buts. One of the town’s current problems that I see every time I travel to the north and back to my home is the humongous traffic. The highway traverses the town proper where all types of small and big businesses congregate and worsened by the symbolic Parola tower at the T or Y intersection across the church.
Eric Manait and I, in our discussion during our radio program “Frankahay Ta” at radio dyCM (1152 AM), agreed that the three congressional representatives of the fifth district, Mandaue City lone district and the sixth district should come together to address the irksome traffic that hounds Mandaue, Consolacion and Liloan.
Since widening the highway after it was widened years ago is not anymore feasible, Eric suggested a viaduct along the coastline from Mandaue up to Danao, while I suggested an elevated track (skyway as we call it here) from Jagobiao, Mandaue City up to the boundary of Liloan and Compostela.
Admittedly, putting up a viaduct or skyway as Eric and I dreamed of would need billions of pesos to fund either of this alternate road to address the problem of the current sorry state of traffic in these areas that I suppose the Department of Public Works and Highways would be more than happy and willing to implement if either of our suggestions, or should I say “dream,” would come to fruition.
But it’s not far-fetched to have a viaduct from the coastline of Mandaue City up to Danao City or Compostela only, or a skyway from Jagobiao, Mandaue City up to the boundary of Liloan and Compostela if Representatives Frasco, Ouano-Dizon and newbie Daphne Lagon would put in their congressional development fund together and implement either of these possible solutions to the burgeoning traffic, which is the result of growth and development in the Province of Cebu.
The notion that most motorists are not voters of their places hence there’s no need to address the traffic problem is utterly wrong. That’s the line of reasoning of trapos (traditional politicos). Remember that public office means service to the community and the people.