Garcia appoints new head for removal operations of spaghetti wires

Spaghetti wires. | Contributed photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City government has assigned a new point person to lead the removal of ‘spaghetti’ or dangling wires in the city.

Mayor Raymond Alvin Garcia has instructed Councilor Edgardo “Jaypee” Labella II to lead the clearing of the wires, replacing Councilor Jerry Guardo.

In an interview on Monday at the City Hall, Labella, who is the Council’s chair for the Committee on Information and Communications Technology, said that he has replaced Guardo due to the duties the latter had to focus.

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“I understand nga si Cons. Guardo was the one in-charge ani before pero nahitabo man gud is si Cons. Guardo, very busy na because of asphalting. Mao na nga gitahasan ko ni Mayor ani and I’m very thankful to Cons. Guardo nga iyaha gyud giturn over nako tanan,” Labella said.

(I understand that Cons. Guardo was the one in-charge for this one before but this happened and Cons. Guardo is very busy because of asphalting. That is the man tasked by the mayor to do this, and I’m very thankful to Cons. Guardo that he turned them over to all of them.)

Garcia also shared the same sentiments, reflecting on the workload that Guardo had been having.

Under Labella’s direction, the clearing of dangling wires started last week in Brgy. Mabolo, from MJ Cuenco Avenue to Imus Road where a thick portion of spaghetti wires were found.

Labella said that they were prioritizing first clearing the spaghetti wires along the highways for the safety of the motorists.

He added that there were more or less six teams composed of different telecommunications companies coordinating with the City Government for the clearing operations, alongside the Cebu City Transportation Office for the traffic control.

“We are doing this every day from Monday to Saturday.  We still start at 9 o’clock and will around 3 (in the afternoon),” Labella said.

Moreover, there are also other barangays, who asked for assistance from the City Government, to remove the dangling wires in some areas of their barangays.

“Di man gyud nato maato tanan. So, ato lang gyud gi priority is katong mga baga na gyud kaayo nga kuyawan na gyud ta sa nga poste nga mahug,” Labella said.

(We cannot do all the things. So, we only made the priority ones that are thick that we are afraid that the post would fall down.)

He also assured that there would be no favoritism on which area to prioritize first, given that he was from the North District.

“Magbase gyud ta sa barangay captain because barangay captain or councilors, sila may nakahibaw sa  ilahang mga barangay kung asa dapit ang baga kaayo nga spaghetti wires ug asa dapit mauy kuyaw na pod… Ato nang gipang determine with their help,” Labella.

(We are basing things to the barangay captain because the barangay captain or councilors, they are the ones who knew their barangays on where the spaghetti wires are thick and where those are dangerous also…We are already detemining them with their help.)

Labella said that they had not set any timeframe for the completion of the clearing operations for the whole city due to its large scope.

Labella added that they would also continue to implement the City Ordinance No. 2750 authored by Guardo which mandated that all electrical power lines, cables, and telecommunication and television lines to be placed underground.

“It is also their social responsibility to clear all those dead wires because all those dead wires is more on the telco sites, dili siya sa kurente. Kinsa man say maka determine kung buhi og patay (nga wire), sila raman gyud (if it is not an electric wire. Who can determine if the wire is live or not),” Labella said.

Removed spaghetti wires will be gathered by a private company and there will be no expense from the City for this operations.

Meanwhile, Garcia said in a press conference on Monday that he was already in negotiations with a company that would underground all the wires next week. It will be done through a private-public partnership (PPP).