By the time this piece came out, President Rodrigo Duterte may or may not have mentioned about the fate of the Cebu Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project in his State of the Nation Address, prioritizing instead his war on drugs and the shift to federalism in his agenda.
There were conflicting signals being sent and it doesn’t help that the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas (OPAV) is adding to the cacophony of voices by lobbying mass transport plans for Cebu either it envisioned by itself or with the Department of Transportation (DOTr).
Chief of this plan is the so-called “point to point” bus system which from all indications is a seemingly poor attempt to replicate or downsize the bus system in favor of the Light Railway Transit (LRT) system that is operational in Manila.
Like the BRT, it will consist of buses that will fetch and drop off passengers at designated stops and terminals akin to the MyBus and free rides offered by two major malls in Cebu City.
How this will work out only the OPAV seems to know for sure but details are sketchy and appear to be the product of idea pitches found in company meetings instead of thoroughly studied and evaluated technical plans stamped with approval from international funding institutions.
As to how it will be funded, President Duterte made it clear that it will be the national government who will spearhead such projects sourcing it from the revenue generated by the TRAIN law as well as joint ventures with foreign partners that are said to be built at no cost to the government — at least until the fares are set for the riding public.
It is also unclear whether or not the DOTr announcement to postpone the BRT applies only to Manila or to Cebu as well since the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) made it clear that their board will have the final say on the project on July 27.
But even before that announcement there are indications that the BRT in Cebu City will be delayed by a year or two at least until the LRT project is off and running no thanks to those with an axe to grind against the incumbent Cebu City Hall leadership.
And even if the LRT is given the immediate signal to proceed, there are still details that need to be accounted for to the public due to lack of transparency from its proponents, who certainly aren’t wanting for backers in the incumbent administration.
What it all boils down to is a power play of sorts in which projects that have been certified and cleared for implementation are being shelved in favor of the pet projects of those in power.
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