PHILIPPINE ECONOMIC BRIEFING/APRIL 19, 2018.(CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA)
‘There’s no other alternative to the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) but the BRT.’
Cebu City Mayor Tomas Osmeña emphasized this point as the National Economic Development Authority — Investment Coordination Committee (NEDA-ICC) failed to come up with a decision on the P17-billion BRT project, which the Department of Transportation (DOTr) recommended to be scrapped.
“There’s no alternative at this point. I have studied this for a long time. There’s no other alternative to the BRT but the BRT,” said Osmeña in a phone interview with Cebu Daily News.
Neda Secretary Ernesto Pernia, who sits as the vice-chairperson of the Neda-ICC, told CDN in a separate interview that they agreed to further deliberate on the BRT project following DOTr’s recommendation.
“DOTr was directed to present what would be the alternative, the short term solution to the traffic in Cebu if the BRT is not a go. Transportation Secretary Arturo Tugade was also present in the meeting,” said Pernia.
However, he did not elaborate further on what transpired during the Neda-ICC’s meeting held at the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas headquarters in Metro Manila.
DOTr was given 10 days to come up with an alternative.
For now the BRT project is on hold.
DOTr submitted a three-page recommendation letter to Neda-ICC Chairperson and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez, last April 11, to cancel the BRT.
The ICC is composed of the Finance Secretary as chairman, the NEDA Director General as co-chairman, and the Executive Secretary, the Secretaries of Agriculture, Trade and Industry and Budget and Management, and the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas governor as members.
Consultant
Presidential Assistant for the Visayas Michael Dino said he attended the Neda-ICC meeting.
Osmeña and Dino, who has openly opposed the BRT project, have been publicly at odds with each other, especially on the BRT, which is Osmeña’s brainchild.
But interestingly, both parties commended the Neda-ICC for directing the DOTr to activate and hire personnel for the BRT’s Technical Services Consultant (TSC) which is now tasked to reevaluate the BRT project particularly on the points raised by the DOTr.
For Osmeña, having the TSC meant a step towards the construction of the BRT project.
“It’s about time. Neda did not grant DOTr’s request to cancel the BRT today. Instead, they ordered DOTr to (finally) get the technical experts that they should have hired years ago,” said Osmeña.
Dino, on the other hand, said that the TSC will provide further insights that may support the findings of the DOTr, such as narrow roads, underutilized funds and costs incurred due to delays, which led the the agency to suggest scrapping the BRT.
“I fully support NEDA-ICC’s action to hire a TSC in order to conduct a second look whether or not to cancel the Cebu BRT Project,” said Dino.
The TSC is just one of the 12 components needed for a full-blown implementation of the BRT but an audit observation memorandum from the Commission on Audit (COA) revealed that the DOTr has not procured a firm to mobilize it.
Without a functioning TSC, other components of the BRT such as the detailed engineering design, financial management, and public transport policy and planning specialists, cannot proceed with their respective tasks.
Measures
Osmeña and Dino revealed that they have come up with measures to push for their respective agenda approved by the Neda-ICC.
Dino is keen on a Light Railway Transit (LRT) as a solution to Cebu’s traffic problems, but the procedure to push for the project, such as a feasibility study, among others, has not started.
While Osmeña announced that he already submitted a report to the World Bank (WB) about plans to scrap the BRT, Dino said his office is closely coordinating with the DOTr to come up with a “more superior” solution to address traffic in Cebu.
Osmeña said he sent his four-page response on DOTr’s recommendation to cancel the BRT to the WB, the world’s largest financial institution granting countries loans for their capital projects, to support his report.
“The comments I sent to Neda-ICC in response to DOTr’s recommendation to cancel the BRT — yeah, I already sent it to the World Bank,” said Osmeña.
For his part, Dino assured that his office’s partnership with the DOTr will produce not only a short-term but also a long-term solution to traffic in Cebu.
“OPAV is working closely with the DOTr in looking for possible solutions to the traffic problem in Cebu. Right from the start of the Duterte administration, my office has lobbied to include Cebu in the Traffic Crisis Act that will give President Rody Duterte emergency powers in solving the traffic crisis,” Dino said in his statement.