At noon on June 30, 2022, Michael Rama officially assumed the post of mayor of Cebu City after winning the elections the month before.
During his inaugural speech, Rama bared many of his administration’s plans or what he called his “21 gun-salute projects” to honor his predecessor, the late mayor Edgardo Labella.
Some have been realized.
Take for example the loan the City Government took out for the reclamation of the South Road Properties.
The mayor said he wanted to pay it off during his watch. By the end of August, the City Government did.
Rama said he would focus on the realization of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
At the end of February 2023, civil works on Package 1 of the project, or from the Cebu South Bus Terminal along N. Bacalso Ave. to the front of the Capitol building on Osmeña Blvd., finally started. Completion of the 2.8-kilometer stretch is expected before the end of the year.
He also envisioned a traffic summit to address the worsening problem of street congestion that affects the economy.
Last September, the City held a two-day mobility summit, the first of its kind. Big ideas were laid on the table like installing cable cars that will connect the downtown area to the hinterlands, bypassing traffic on the ground.
One official said it would “give a face to the modernization and Singapore-like vision” of the mayor.
After the summit, though, the proposal was probably placed in a filing cabinet along with many other grandiose plans for the city to gather dust because it hasn’t been heard of since.
Rama also said he would focus on asphalting city streets and finally putting to rest the 93-1 issue.
Perhaps the former will be more apparent when the next election nears. In the downtown and uptown areas, there haven’t been any significant “asphalting” projects in the last nine months since last year’s “asphalt storm.”
As for the 93-1 issue, Rama might have thought Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had removed the thorn from his foot when she announced last October that she would deal directly with the 5,000 occupants of the so-called 93-1 lots in 11 barangays in Cebu City.
But then last month, the Cebu Provincial Board revoked the memorandum of agreement between the Provincial Government and the City Government as well as the deeds of donation concerning lots covered by 93-1.
The author of the resolution cited “defected” lot donations and failed land swap negotiations between the Province and the City.
So Rama is back to square one, but this setback and all the other setbacks have never stopped him from pursuing his dream for the city.
On Wednesday, April 12, the City Government launched the three-meter easement development project “as a restoration program for eight rivers in the city.”
The project will construct access roads, bike lanes, river railings, concrete pavements and modular water treatment facilities in these areas.
Sort of like what Iloilo City has already done.
No doubt residents will greatly benefit if Rama’s vision for the city is realized. But what happens when they finally wake up?