Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella says proposed P240 million eight-story Crisis Management Center is a long-term solution to address pandemic and to address the traffic problem in the city. | PIO Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella said that the city would need a command center not just to address the pandemic but to address the many long term problems being faced in the city including traffic.
This was the response of the mayor to the statement of Cebu City South District Representative Rodrigo “Bebot” Abellanosa that Labella’s administration was spending the city’s funds on unnecessary projects amid the pandemic.
Abellanosa compared the city government’s expenses to that of Pasig City.
He said that while Pasig City was spending government funds to provide for the affected families, Cebu City was spending P400 million for a Crisis Center Building and Archives Building.
LOOK: Congressman Abellanosa: The priorities of two cities in the middle of COVID-19 crisis
Labella said the Crisis Management Center or the Command Center would be a long term solution not only to the pandemic and any future outbreaks but also to address the traffic situation of the city and disaster response.
The mayor has proposed a budget of P240 million for the Command Center that would rise beside the Cebu City Medical Center.
“We need the command center because it is not only for the crisis, it will also be needed to solve our traffic problems. It will have everything needed for quick response,” said the mayor.
Read more: P240M budget proposed for command center in Cebu City
The command center will be an 8-story building and will house the main controls for the city’s traffic system and disaster response.
As for the Archives Building, this was a request from the legislative department that Labella supported.
He said Vice Mayor Michael Rama said that an Archives Building would contain the documents, ordinances, paperwork of the city since its charter more than 70 years ago.
It is a project for future generations.
The mayor reiterated that the city had allocated P1 billion for the relief for the pandemic in April 2020, and the city would continue to provide for the needs of the affected residents.
The city has also purchased three testing machines and 30,000 testing kits for the continuous testing./dbs