CEBU City Mayor Tomas Osmeña said the city will leave the Mega Cebu program since it is just “cheese for the imagination” and thus doesn’t exist.
In yesterday’s press conference, Osmeña said Cebu City doesn’t have anything to do with Mega Cebu because it doesn’t have a legal personality in the first place.
“So if anyone is under the impression (of Cebu City being part of Mega Cebu) because some people are asking me what is the stand of Mega Cebu, please do not use Mega Cebu. You can say Mega Cebu minus Cebu City,” he said.
Mega Cebu is a project of the Cebu Business Club, Ramon Aboitiz Foundation, Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica) and Yokohama aimed at mobilizing Cebu local governments into mapping and implementing shared sustainable projects for their constituents.
One of its proposals is the creation of a Mega Cebu Development Authority (MCDA) that will institutionalize the Metro Cebu Development Coordinating Board which will cover seven cities, six towns and Cebu province along with the seven private sector groups and 20 national government agencies.
Osmeña said whatever is discussed in Mega Cebu doesn’t concern Cebu City and the city won’t suffer if they were out of it. He said attending meetings at Mega Cebu is a “waste of time.”
The mayor also took potshots at the Movement for a Livable Cebu (MLC) which consists of private sector representatives.
“Let me answer one thing. Keep complaining Movement for Livable Cebu. They supported (former Cebu City mayor Michael) Rama and Rama supported them for six years. I only ask one thing from the Cebuanos, is Cebu more livable?” he said.
“I’ll give you an example. The architect of Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) is a member of MLC ngano nagtukod siya building way (why did he erect a building that has no) building permit? See? These people think they are above the law,” he said.