CEBU City Councilor Jocelyn Pesquera has requested the Office of the Ombudsman-Visayas to investigate if the link-to-port component on Osmeña Blvd. is part of the first package of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (CBRT) project.
Pesquera also wants the anti-graft office to check if loan proceeds from the World Bank are being used to implement the link-to-port component.
“That particular portion in DBP (Development Bank of the Philippines) to Plaza (Independencia) is not part of the BRT, but then the DOTr (Department of Transportation) and the local CBRT insisted on utilizing the ‘alleged’ savings of the loan from the World Bank for this project,” she said.
During the council’s regular session on Wednesday, March 26, 2025, Pesquera pointed out that the CBRT project management violated the City’s zoning ordinance when it established a bicycle lane and expanded the sidewalks along Osmeña Blvd.
She said part of Osmeña Blvd., from Sanciangko St. to the Plaza Independencia, should be arcaded.
An arcaded zone refers to an area featuring a series of arches, often with shops or other establishments lining the sides.
Pesquera asked why the City Planning Office and Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia approved the link-to-port feature.
“So, now, they are doing something which is illegal per our ordinance and I don’t understand as well that our City Planning Office, supposedly that particular office is considered a vanguard for our zoning ordinance, but they recommended it,” she said. “I don’t know as well why the action mayor also approved it when he was even telling he ordered the removal of the electrical posts. But then the CBRT continued the expansion of the sidewalk, and maybe they’re thinking nga dili sila pwede makiha (they could not be sued).”
Pesquera said implementing the link-to-port component can be considered technical malversation, and questioned why no one has filed a case against the implementers.
SunStar Cebu tried to contact CBRT project manager Norvin Imbong for his reaction, but the latter had not responded as of press time.
Pesquera’s concerns stemmed from the privilege speech of Councilor Pastor “Jun” Alcover on Wednesday, in which he requested the CBRT management to study the possibility of temporarily removing the bollards that separate the bike lane from the rest of the lanes along Osmeña Blvd.
Alcover said the bollards cause heavy traffic congestion since motorists are squeezed in fewer lanes.
He said bollards were only useful during the pandemic when many rode their bicycles in the city.
However, he clarified that he was not against the bicycle lanes, but he pointed out that the people’s lifestyle had changed after the pandemic.
Pesquera commended Alcover for raising the concern of the bicycle lanes.
“It’s not even part of the project, they use the money from the government, they use the proceeds from the World Bank and yet they are not suspended. They are not even ordered dismissed from service,’ she said. “They are supposedly liable for plunder. Whoever signed it and tolerated it, they should also be held liable.”
The link-to-port component aims to pedestrianize parts of Osmeña Blvd. by reducing the two-lane road to a single lane and extending the sidewalks, promoting pedestrian activity in the downtown area. / JPS