Setting aside the numbers game that is part and parcel of the country’s political landscape, what can Cebu City residents expect from the emerging simple majority that is the Bando Osmena–Pundok Kauswagan (BO-PK) bloc in the Cebu City Council?
For starters, we have the proposed coal-fired power plant project planned for construction at Barangay Sawang Calero. The Team Rama bloc moved to have it reviewed while the BO-PK bloc is siding with the residents who are strongly opposed to have a coal plant right in their midst.
Councilor Joel Garganera, who chairs the council’s environment committee, said that while he will listen to all sides, he recognizes the need of Cebu City and Metro Cebu for additional power supply to service their growing energy demand.
Garganera, a staunch Team Rama ally, is also at the center of the ongoing case against the reopening of the Inayawan landfill after he filed a complaint to oppose it following objections from businesses and schools that were affected by the stench emanating from the area.
Based on these two cases alone, we note inconsistencies in the stances of both BO-PK and Team Rama insofar as environmental issues are concerned. Let’s compare and contrast, shall we?
The BO-PK will listen to complaints about the possible pollution and health risks to be posed by the coal plant project on a heavily populated area despite constant assurances by proponents that it will employ clean technology to reduce the coal smoke emissions and effluents discharged by the plant.
Yet its founder and leader, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña, would rather reopen the Inayawan landfill and allow the stench to continually affect the health of nearby communities and businesses rather than pursue a more sustainable solution to the city’s garbage problem, and by that we don’t mean contracting the services of landfill operators and service providers whom the city government deems questionable.
And while Team Rama is solidly behind Garganera’s position against the Inayawan landfill’s reopening, we question whether they are listening to the concerns of the Barangay Sawang Calero residents who are fearful of the pollution that will be caused by the coal plant project.
We’re not even talking about other issues such as the South Road Properties (SRP), which Osmeña is dead set on developing in his own vision and to which he has lately crossed swords with major developers whom he had invited to take a chance to invest in.
With a simple majority, it also remains to be seen if Team Rama, whose leader continues to believe they are still a force to be reckoned with, will remain a solid bloc or will follow another leader with deep connections to the Palace.
This situation may prove to be fodder talk for armchair local political analysts, but city residents want to know how they stand to benefit from the new emerging simple majority in the City Council.