What does the Cebu provincial government’s call on investors to develop the countryside have to do with the hullabaloo over the push to replace the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) with the Light Railway Transit (LRT) project?
Simply put, the LRT proponents should focus on connecting all towns to the outskirts of Metro Cebu — and perhaps vice versa rather than be distracted by other issues like the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project.
In calling on businesses and manufacturers to invest in the countryside, Cebu Vice Gov. Agnes Magpale said the provincial government will implement its investment code to attract more investors into pouring capital and resources to Cebu’s towns and small cities.
The public has yet to know the more salient provisions of the said investment code, but we hope for the province’s sake that they are sufficient enough to lure in the investors and give Metro Cebu more breathing space by stopping the exodus of job applicants from the towns and their contribution to the traffic congestion there.
Cebu, Davao and Manila are among the country’s top population centers by virtue of the businesses and industries concentrated there, and it’s the continuing influx of people for better employment that led to an unwelcome increase in illegal settlers and traffic congestion in these areas.
Was it only former Cebu governor Lito Osmeña who championed the cause of countryside development through his “Promdi” agenda? We’d like to think there were more based on the speeches of past presidents.
President Rodrigo Duterte, being a former Davao city mayor for decades, should be the most empathetic of the lot since he comes from Mindanao, whose potential for development remains elusive not least due to its peace and order problem as evidenced by insurgencies and, lately, the terror attacks of ISIS-influenced fanatics.
It’s obvious that in order for investors to be motivated to pour their resources — outside of a direct order compelling them to do so from the President — critical infrastructure projects like transportation, and road and telecommunications links and networks should be in place before they even set up shop there.
That’s where the multibillion-peso expressway project of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and the LRT comes in. It serves to link the towns that already offer enough tourist attractions to entice foreign and domestic visitors to Metro Cebu, which is already feeling the weight of water shortages, overpopulation and traffic on a daily basis.
The Capitol needs the national government to pursue infrastructure development in its countryside to encourage investors to invest there so its constituents won’t have to move to the big cities and end up becoming illegal settlers when things don’t work out.