Nothing for Cebu

During the last meeting of the Mega Cebu Movement, Chairman Bobby Aboitiz made a presentation showing that Cebu for many years has not received much assistance from the national government especially when it comes to infrastructure projects.

The last time I heard and read that Cebu was getting national assistance was during the time of former President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo. But under the administration of the incumbent President Noynoy Aquino, Cebu has not gotten that much.

This is ironic because majority of the Cebuanos voted for the president.

There is no question that Cebu needs the valuable help of the national government just like any local government.

But it has been observed lately that it seems today’s national government is biased against Cebu. Statistics showed that the national capital region, Luzon and Mindanao are getting the lion’s share of the allocation of major infrastructure projects.

This has been going on since the administration of the late President Cory Aquino, when typhoon Ruping hit Cebu and devastated Cebu City, not much help came from the national government.

Luckily for us in Cebu, we showed the entire country the indomitable spirit of the Cebuanos when we were able to rebuild Cebu in just a few weeks. Our leaders at that time rallied and mobilized the Cebuanos to make things possible. With the help of Señor Santo Niño, we were able to rebuild Cebu in no time.

But why is it that the present administration is not giving much support to Cebu? Well, many advance the belief that the national government is threatened by Cebu and that it has lived up to its moniker as imperial Manila with all the powers centralized in the national government.

Remember that we in Cebu have always wanted to be independent. There was a time that we asserted the use of our mother tongue as the medium of instruction in public schools, and we were very active and vocal in pushing for a federal system of government.

This attitude of our elected national leaders only shows how narrow-minded and selfish they are to treat Cebu as unimportant. With that, our local leaders should be united instead of being divided by useless partisan politics so we can develop Cebu and live up to our billing as the premier province in the country.

Cebuanos have always advocated to free ourselves of the many evils of a highly centralized system of government, where the national government decides for us, like what we need and what to give to us without taking into serious consideration our peculiarities.

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Today, Tuesday is the unveiling of the life-sized statues of Serging Osmeña and Vicente Rama at the city hall.

I asked the mayor the purpose for the life-sized statues of the two great Cebuanos and specifically, why he allowed the installation of an Osmeña statue when his most bitter critic is the son of Serging, former Mayor Tommy Osmeña.

Mayor Mike answered me that Serging deserves to be honored and that during his term, politics should not block efforts to recognize those who deserve to be recognized for their contribution to the growth of Cebu City.

I was not surprised by the gesture of Mayor Mike because as a cousin, I have known him since we were kids. I used to stay with them during summer vacations and got close to their entire family and I have observed that Mike has never been a hot headed and stubborn son to the late Fernando Rama.

The only time I saw Mike Rama got mad was when his brother got his bicycle without asking permission. My other uncle, the late Osmundo Rama, scolded Mike for fighting against his elder brother, the late Bill Rama. Mayor Mike is a sober person who shuns away from quarrels. I think he got this attitude from his mother, the late Mama Nate.

Mayor Mike, thank you for teaching us that politics is never a hindrance to recognize and pay tribute to the great Cebuanos of yesteryears.