Ricky Poca
Having been born and having lived in Cebu for 59 years and with family and friends living in Cebu City, I reached the pinnacle of my life and came to a point when I start to dream, wish and hope not for myself but for other Cebu residents.
I wish, hope and pray that Cebu City will return to its former splendor, clean and peaceful. There was a time when you can just go out for a drink in a bar and enjoy yourself without any concern for trouble.
If there was trouble, it can be settled easily since nearly everyone knew each other. Today, it is so difficult to do that because there are many people who are not from Cebu City who made their living here.
In a way, it makes the locals vulnerable from the unfamiliar. I remember a time when you can’t see any garbage on the road or anywhere else since it gets cleaned up a few hours later.
Today, garbage has become a bigger problem with no solution seemingly in sight. The Inayawan dumpsite has outlived its purpose and there were solutions offered only to be ignored by those in charge.
I don’t know how to solve the city’s problems, but I know for a fact that if we have to solve our problems, we need everyone’s input.
One must remember that a leader doesn’t only have expertise but also the ability to bring people with good ideas to the table. Sometimes when I crisscross Cebu City, tears would fall from my eyes at the sight of the city’s progress that is slowly being destroyed by the powers that be.
It’s because people are more focused on earning money without taking into consideration how their actions will impact on the city. So we should focus on helping the city first before we concern ourselves with profit.
For starters I believe it is high time that we regulate the use of plastics since it is one of the biggest contributors of garbage.
We teach the people to keep our city clean but at the same we allow private institutions to make use of plastic bags. I know this is going to be a long struggle but we should help each other overcome it.
* * *
Last week, the Philippines hosted the Asean summit with President Rodrigo Roa Duterte taking the lead; and similar to past events, it focused on strengthening regional unity, economy and security.
When the issue of human rights cropped up, President Duterte was civil enough not to create a ruckus over it and reiterated that domestic issues such as his war on drugs should not be touched by other countries.
Still, the Asean also discussed other concerns like the North Korea crisis, the Rohingya refugee problem and so on, and other countries spoke about it so the Philippines isn’t untouchable.
When Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau of Canada raised the human rights issue, he was greeted with harangues by President Duterte’s loyalists in social media.
One issue I would have preferred to have been highlighted is how the Asean countries can help each other’s economy.
Instead of competition, the Asean should have emphasized greater cooperation. We should make money together, we don’t destroy each other, we don’t compete, we cooperate. And I think that is very important.