Despite all the challenges it has faced in the last five years, Mega Cebu is determined to see its vision through until 2050.
This determination is apparent in the theme this year’s Mega Cebu month carries, which is “Padayon Ta.”
“We would just like to basically encourage everyone that whatever we started in 2011, we will continue because we’re almost there,” Carol Ballesteros, communication and stakeholder relationship manager for Mega Cebu, said in an interview with Cebu Daily News.
The monthlong celebration kicked off with a program at Robinsons Galleria Cebu on Friday, September 1.
Mega Cebu is a consortium of private sector and government stakeholders created in 2011 that envisions sustained urban growth in Metro Cebu up to 2050.
The platform slowly gained support from stakeholders in its first few years of existence but has not been free from controversies and intrigues.
The consortium was originally made up of 13 cities and municipalities located on the eastern side of Cebu island, including the cities of Carcar, Naga, Talisay, Cebu, Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu and Danao, as well as the municipalities of San Fernando, Minglanilla, Cordova, Consolacion, Liloan and Compostela.
However, Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña backed out of the initiative in 2016, citing the lack of a legal basis for the body.
Sustaining the roadmap
Mega Cebu has been pushing for the creation of a Mega Cebu Development Authority (MCDA) to act as its legal entity, but the bill seeking to achieve that is still pending in Congress.
Furthermore, Mega Cebu has also been criticized for being “all talk and no action.”
However, Ballesteros said that they already have the roadmap for a sustainable Metro Cebu and that it was just a matter of following what is in the document.
The roadmap, which was prepared by the Japan International Cooperation Agency, was completed in 2015.
Ballesteros said they are now set to implement the items classified in the roadmap as short-term goals, including the conduct of an urban mass transport study for Metro Cebu.
“Amid all the intrigues and misunderstanding, we recognize that that is life. But we will not let that discourage us. What we have started, we will carry all the way until 2050,” she said.
Moving forward, she said they will engage local government units (LGU) all the more and help them take ownership of the program.
To achieve this, the Mega Cebu Development and Coordinating Board (MCDCB), the coordinating arm of Mega Cebu, has replicated its structure within local government units.
The MCDCB is currently chaired by Cebu Gov. Hilario Davide III with representatives from the private and public sectors as co-chairs.
At the LGU level, the local chief executive will head their own version of the MCDCB.
“Whatever we have, we will cascade to them and they will implement,” said Ballesteros.
Incorporating the vision
In a speech read by Cebu Provincial Administrator Mark Tolentino, Governor Davide said many things have been accomplished by Mega Cebu stakeholders in the last half decade.
“All programs and activities are valuable steps that will lead us closer to our 2050 vision,” he said.
As its share of putting this into action, Davide said the Capitol will incorporate the Mega Cebu vision into its provincial development and physical framework plan, which is still being finalized.
“As we evaluate last year’s accomplishments, we look forward to sustain our gains and to gear up for the years to come,” the governor added.
For the whole month of September, Mega Cebu will host several activities including a fun run on September 2, Digital Governance summit on September 7, as well as Teachers Got Talent and E-Syagit Mo! Online campaign.
Local chief executives present during the launching of this year’s Mega Cebu Month were Consolacion Mayor Teresa Alegado, Cordova Mayor Teche Sitoy-Cho and San Fernando Mayor Lakambini Reluya.