CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama has urged the Cebu Provincial Government officials to stop meddling in the Cebu City's Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
This came after the Cebu Provincial Board (PB) approved a resolution calling for the stoppage of BRT construction during its regular session on Monday, March 4, 2024.
Rama, according to Cebu City PIO on Tuesday, March 5, asked the Capitol officials "to show due courtesy" to the City and that they should focus on problems within their territorial jurisdiction.
The PB adopted the resolution pushed by Sixth District Board Member Glenn Soco, Fifth District Board Member and committee on infrastructure and public works chairman Red Duterte, and Third District Board Member John Ismael Borgonia, recommending the stoppage of the CBRT in Cebu City "due to its contribution to the worsening traffic condition, thereby causing great inconvenience to the people of Cebu and causing negative economic effects to the entire people of Cebu."
In his privilege speech, Soco questioned CBRT's feasibility due to the proponent’s failure to provide details on the operation of the mass transport system project, such as the type of buses to use, who will be the operator, and the potential fare.
Duterte, who also chairs the tourism committee, said he received reports and concerns that tourists on their way to the south experienced heavy traffic due to the CBRT project, which runs through two major thoroughfares.
Borgonia said they are in unison with the recent call of the Cebu City Council to suspend the CBRT project. But Borgonia’s question as to “why now” (why only a year after the groundbreaking did the council object to the project) remains addressed to the Cebu City Council.
Last February 27, Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia also issued Memorandum 16-2024 ordering the contractor, Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Ltd., to immediately stop the construction of the bus station in front of the Capitol building along Osmeña Blvd.
Garcia, in the memorandum, said the project’s proponents lacked the necessary authorization from the National Historical Commission of the Philippines (NHCP).
The governor's call was also echoed by his nephew, Cebu City Vice Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia, through a privilege speech he delivered last February 28, requesting the Office of the Building Official to issue a cease and desist order against Hunan Road and Bridge Construction Group Ltd. for its building of bus stations on Osmeña Blvd., for the threat it posed on the integrity of the city’s heritage and culture.
Rama said he has no problem with the PB members' resolutions, but he wonders how the provincial officials would feel if he closes the roads leading to the Capitol.
“Iyahay lang ta’g tan-aw sa atong porma. Pero, usahay, kanang gahum mosu’d na gani sa atong utok, wala na ang maayong pagpamatasan,” said Rama. (JJL)
