HAVE you experienced—or do you know someone who has—having a really annoying neighbor who, whenever you have visitors, you warn them to be careful passing by as he or she “isn’t fully present up there?” That must be the case of the City of Naga, that industrious city down South which has the misfortune of being the next-door neighbor of Minglanilla, the traffic capital of Cebu, whose officials needed the prodding of Cebu Province to finally act.
Take the case of the boxing event in Naga on Dec. 23, the day Cebu stood still because traffic officials in Minglanilla decided it was a good idea to have a Christmas party for their enforcers without leaving even a skeleton crew on the street. The boxing event, which was supposed to start at 6, started at 10:30 with only a handlful left to watch.
I was reading the rants of the officials caught in traffic at that time and boy, none were happy getting very late to their boxing event. Not a few responded that they had foregone plans to watch the event because of Minglanilla traffic.
A month ago, I learned a PFL team checked Naga’s facility for feasibility but was turned off by the traffic. I also suggested too that given girls football’s popularity in Cebu, that the PFF should consider Naga as a training camp for one of the girls youth national teams or even that of the Malditas.
But then again, there’s Minglanilla, the next door neighbor from Hades.
Last Dec. 31, Minglanilla traffic was better than usual--I hope it continues--so I had time to check Naga City’s boardwalk. It’s a perfect sports haven. There are two tennis courts next to a basketball court and a swimming pool, and there’s an ample sized plaza that could host a football festival.
Garry Cabotaje, a former SunStar Cebu colleague who is now the city’s PIO, said the boardwalk is part of Naga’s long term plan that calls for a 246-hectare reclamation.
Football organizers who are wary of dealing with the lack of facilities in Cebu, Naga is a perfect alternative since you can have both have futsal and a seven-a-side football in one place. But again, there’s that unpredictable next door neighbor. Any discussions about Naga will have to include Minglanilla in the picture.
But now that Cebu Province is getting in the picture, I hope officials of Minglanilla finally learns to act (and learns to be ashamed knowing their ineffectiveness affects their neighbors) because come summer, when Cebu football’s calendar gets into high gear, I hope some of the action shifts to the City of Naga.