The latest political issue between Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama and Congressman Bebot Abellanosa is the proposed construction of a road tunnel that would double as storm water passage in the intersection of Natalio Bacalso Avenue and Llamas Street in barangay Basak San Nicolas.
Abellanosa said he already secured initial funding for the project which has a dual purpose –- to address traffic congestion in the area and flooding.
No doubt the proposed SMART tunnel is a laudable project that would benefit residents in the barangay.
More traffic congestion is expected to build up there after SM opens its biggest mall in Asia in October in the SRP. Today, it’s already a busy intersection on N. Bacalso Avenue.
It was surprising that Mayor Rama temporarily blocked the project because he wanted the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) to first widen two roads of Sabellano and the Highway Tagunol road which commuters will take when the tunnel is built.
Rama said that without widening these diversion roads, the public would suffer terrible traffic congestion. He said there would be chaos in the streets if the tunnel is constructed.
I think the mayor’s move is logical and within his authority since he is mandated to look after public welfare just as I know Abellanosa is also looking after the welfare of people in the southern district.
But it is a matter of prioritizing things to be done. I hope both gentlemen, who are reasonable men, would sit down to resolve the matter instead of turning this into a political circus by attacking each other. It’s too early for partisan bickering.
Mayor Rama should also look into the illegal parking of vehicles especially jeepneys and trisikads along Llamas street.
Citom enforcers and the city’s demolition team in PROBE should also clear Llamas street of vendors who occupy the sidewalks, forcing pedestrians to use the streets.
I remember former barangay captain Dioreco who cleared the sidewalks of the vendors and now they are back reclaiming the sidewalks as their turf, taking over the narrow sidewalks.
I hope barangay captain Joe Navarro of Punta Princesa can restore the sidewalks to the pedestrians, and keep them safe from being hit by vehicles.
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Some would-be candidates for president are looking for running mates. Some are still testing the waters to check how the public receives their candidacy.
Interior Secretary Mar Roxas is talking to Sen. Grace Poe and Davao City Rodrigo Duterte as possible running mates but nothing has firmed up yet.
Vice President Jejomar Binay was doing the same. Poe has declined his offer. An alliance of the opposition UNA with the Lakas Party of Gloria Macapagal Arroyo may be shaping up. The Nacionalista Party is reportedly eyeing Sen. Allan Peter Cayetano to run for president.
The way I see it, initial reports of their interest in the presidency are trial balloons to secure bargaining chips to negotiate with another party for a possible tandem. Cayetano is a good person and I like some of his advocacies but he is preoccupied in the Senate investigation of Binay. There are many potential contenders for vice president – Poe, Duterte, Ping Lacson, Cayetano, Drilon and others. A Grace Poe-Chiz Escudero tandem? Nothing concrete has developed.
Another person who has been denying presidential ambitions but is on a nationwide “listening tour” is Davao Mayor Digong Duterte.
He’s good material especially for voters in the Visayas and Mindanao to finally have a president from the south. His advocacy for a federal system of government is very attractive if it is well handled.