‘Work for the love of Cebu’
Lawyer Francis Tolentino, Metro Manila Development Authority chairman, addresses the general assembly of the Cebu News Workers Multipurpose Cooperative (Newscoop). (CDN PHOTO/LITO TECSON)
Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA) chairman Francis Tolentino yesterday encouraged Cebu’s leaders to sit down and map out plans to cope with rapid urban development.
He said it’s time to “metropolitanize” Cebu and think of growth beyone one’s city or town boundaries.
The key, he said, is “unity” and working “for the love of Cebu.”
“Cebu will prosper whether you like it or not. You just cannot stop it,” he said during the Cebu News Workers Multipurpose Cooperative Annual Assembly where he was the guest speaker at the Marcelo B. Fernan Cebu Press Center in Cebu City.
Tolentino said Cebuanos must produce a blueprint for Metro Cebu’s development for the next 20 years or so.
(The shaping of a vision for Mega Cebu up to 2050 is already in progress with the four-year-old Metro Cebu Development and Coordinating Board, with private sector and government partners.)
“This is the opportune time for Cebu’s leaders to join hands and prepare for Cebu’s exciting future. Current political boundaries should be set aside. It couldn’t be a plan for Lapu-Lapu only or for just a particular LGU. It has to be a collective study,” he said.
Tolentino said Cebu should learn from Metro Manila which was caught off guard by rapid urban growth.
READ: ‘Metro Cebu Dev’t Authority needed’
“Metro Manila never conceptualized an urban area plan from the beginning. Now, you can see the situation. Cebu must start studying now in order not to duplicate what’s happening in Metro Manila. It’s now time to metropolitize Cebu,” he said.
When he assumed as MMDA chairman, he said, he thought he would not survive due to high expectations and deep seated problems like traffic, which he admitted he could not solve.
Tolentino was a three-term mayor of Tagaytay before his MMDA post.
“Being the MMDA chair is the most difficult job from day one onwards. But I was able to survive because of one formula,” Tolentino said.
Setting aside political differences, he said, he convened all 17 mayors, and 33 congressmen from Metro Manila and asked them to work with him “for the love of Metro Manila and nothing more.”
“Get the cooperation of all stakeholders on day one,” he said.
“To achieve success in whatever organization or endeavor, you need to have unity,” he said.
While he failed to solve traffic , Tolentino said he was proud to leave one legacy – “that is uniting leaders for a common goal”
With that approach, he said he never got into a public quarrel with any of the mayors.
With 2.4 million registered vehicles in Metro Manila, the capital lacks about 3,000 kilometers of roads.
While the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system is set to be operational in Cebu by 2018, he said its effect on Metro Cebu’s traffic has yet to be seen.
“BRT will be implemented soon in Cebu. Only time can tell its effectiveness. It needs to be accepted by people, and have a well-managed and efficient system. We look forward with positive enthusiasm
for BRT in Cebu to work well,” said Tolentino, one of the board members of the National Economic Development Authority.
The present metro-wide planning body for Cebu called the MCDCB was formed in 2011.
It brings together the rovince of Cebu, 13 towns and cities in the eastern coast.
The body is headed by Gov. Hilario Davide III with businessman Roberto Aboitiz and Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama as co-chairmen.