MAYOR Michael “Mike” Rama is confident that progress on the achievement of the Singapore-like Cebu City vision can be felt by the public during his three-year term that will end in mid-2025.
During an exclusive interview with SunStar Cebu Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2022, Rama said he will not wait for a second term to achieve the Singapore-like development of the city.
Rama also laid out his plan to build 200 medium-rise buildings (MRBs) in the city to accommodate informal settlers and those families that will be displaced by the government’s river improvement projects.
“Akong hangyo lang gyud nga kuyogi lang ko ninyo kay dili na siya imposible. We would wish nga ang siyam ka tuig, mahimong tulo ka tuig,” said Rama.
(My only request is that you will accompany me on this quest because this is not impossible. We would wish that the nine years would just become three years.)
Nine years obliquely refers to the three consecutive three-year terms that local chief executives may run for the same office before they bump up against election term limits.
Asked about the prospective amount needed to fund his vision, Rama said this would require billions of pesos. But he insisted that the budget should not be tackled first since it can be found along the way.
The City Government will also venture into public-private partnerships to develop infrastructure projects such as the proposed monorail system, light rail transit and cable car system, he added.
Rama will also ask the various national agencies to pour their funds into Cebu City to help it achieve his Singapore-like vision.
Socialized housing
According to Rama, the City will need to construct around 200 MRBs for the City Government’s socialized housing program.
The funding for the MRBs will be sourced from private land developers’ compliance with the required Balanced Housing Development Program under the Urban Development and Housing Act of 1992.
Based on this law, private developers should set aside 20 percent of their development costs to be used for socialized housing projects for the people, Rama said.
What the City Government is doing right now is identifying the lots for the MRBs, he said.
“Yuta ra gyud ang pangitaon, unya ang budget ana gikan ra sad sa developers. So when you are talking about budget about infrastructure, dili kaayo ta magproblema,” said Rama.
(We just need to find the land, and the budget for that will come from the developers. So when you are talking about budget for infrastructure, we won’t have so much of a problem with that.)
The MRBs will be used to accommodate homeless individuals and some of the 14,000 identified structure owners who will be affected by the City’s recovery of the three-meter easement of rivers.
New City Hall
Rama also announced that he will push for the construction of a new City Hall that will be located in the South Road Properties (SRP).
He said the plan to transfer the City Hall to SRP had been crafted many years ago during the term of then mayor Tomas Osmeña.
Rama said the current City Hall will be converted into a museum like the Smithsonian Institute in the United States of America.
“Because no matter what, we have to disperse. If we bring the City Hall karon, atoang tan-awon mura na na og Smithsonian,” said Rama.
Rama concluded the interview by urging the residents of the city to join him in his vision for Cebu City.
“Kuyogi ko sa damgo kay kining damgoha atoa ning tanan. Unya with that I guarantee, I will give you the political will,” said Rama. (Join me in this dream because this dream is for all of us. And with that I guarantee, I will you give you the political will.)