Cebu City News March 2013

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Dietary supplement is a product that contains vitamins, minerals, herbs or other botanicals, amino acids, enzymes, and/or other ingredients intended to supplement the diet. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has special labeling requirements for dietary supplements and treats them as foods, not drugs.

Manufacturers and distributors of dietary supplements and dietary ingredients are prohibited from marketing products that are adulterated or misbranded. That means that these firms are responsible for evaluating the safety and labeling of their products before marketing to ensure that they meet all the requirements of DSHEA and FDA regulations.

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Cebu City Cathedral
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Magellan's Cross in Cebu City
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Wars of ancient history were about possessions, territory, power, control, family, betrayal, lover's quarrel, politics and sometimes religion.

But we are in the Modern era and supposedly more educated and enlightened .

Think about this. Don't just brush off these questions.

  • Why is RELIGION still involved in WARS? Isn't religion supposed to be about PEACE?
  • Ask yourself; What religion always campaign to have its religious laws be accepted as government laws, always involved in wars and consistently causing WARS, yet insists that it's a religion of peace?

WHY??

There are only two kinds of people who teach tolerance:
  1. The Bullies. They want you to tolerate them so they can continue to maliciously deprive you. Do not believe these bullies teaching tolerance, saying that it’s the path to prevent hatred and prejudice.
  2. The victims who are waiting for the right moment to retaliate. They can’t win yet, so they tolerate.
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Mormon Temple Lahug cebu city philippines

Supreme Court affirms CA ruling on road lot

By Rene U. Borromeo, MIT


CEBU, Philippines - The Supreme Court denied the Cebu City government’s petition seeking to nullify the Court of Appeals’ ruling which ordered the city to pay 12 percent legal interest per annum on an unpaid balance for a road lot purchased in 1993.

Court records showed that the city already paid P20.8 million as just compensation for the two parcels of lot owned by spouses Apolonio and Blasa Dedamo which was used as an access road leading to the Cebu Business Park.

It was learned that on September 17, 1993 the city filed a civil case before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) for eminent domain over Dedamo’s property and immediately took possession of the two lots after depositing P51,156 with the bank.

The court-appointed panel of commissioners, which included a representative of the city, later recommended P20,826,339 as just compensation for the lot.

The court did not specify in its decision that the city is obliged to pay interest to the lot owner prompting the Dedamo couple to elevate the matter to the Court of Appeals.

According to the Appellate Court, the city is only obliged to pay 12 percent legal interest of the unpaid balance from the time the decision awarding just compensation became final and executory on September 20, 2002 until it was fully paid on December 23, 2003.

The Court of Appeals denied the lot owner’s manifestation and motion to order the city to pay the 12 percent legal interest of the unpaid balance to be computed from the time of actual taking of the property up to the date of payment of the just compensation.

The Supreme Court affirmed the Appellate Court’s decision. (FREEMAN)





Probe says 2 cops shot each other

By www.sunstar.com.ph


ACTING Cebu City Police Office Director Mariano Natu-el Jr. yesterday said they have ruled out foul play in the death of two policemen who allegedly shot each other in Barangay Guadalupe last week.

He said their decision came after the ballistic results showed that the empty shells and slugs recovered from the scene matched with the firearms used by PO1 Anthony Gonzales and PO1 Rey Gabutan.

The reenactment conducted by the Homicide Section also showed that no other person was probably involved in the incident.

The testimonies of the witnesses, including two other policemen, also showed that Gonzales and Gabutan shot each other during an argument.

Natu-el said their families may not receive benefits because the two policemen didn’t die in the line of duty.

“However, there are considerations. It would really depend on the investigating board,” he said.

Doubts

Natu-el said they are coordinating with the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) 7 in the case.

“We are still not closing the investigation. We will be waiting for the results of NBI 7 (investigation). There should be no doubts in the case,” he said.

Gonzales’ father Victorio has doubts about the findings of the police investigation.

“Mahibaw-an ra man ni nato tanan gyud sa pag-abot sa panahon (We will know the truth at the proper time),” he told Sun.Star Cebu.

In an earlier interview, Victorio cited loopholes that he saw in the case and said he couldn’t believe the two policemen shot each other. Gonzales and Gabutan were fourth degree cousins and childhood friends. Victorio said they always found time to see each other.

The alleged shootout happened last March 23 during a drinking session at a friend’s house in Sitio Ehya-English.

Gonzales, 29, allegedly became rowdy when he got drunk. Gabutan, 30, tried to control his cousin’s behavior until they quarreled.

Gabutan warned Gonzales that unless he changed his ways, he could face dismissal from service. But when he was about to leave, Gonzales fired at him.

Though wounded, Gabutan fired back and hit Gonzales in the chest. They will be buried on Tuesday.





Cebu City holds Stations of the Cross

By newsinfo.inquirer.net


Mayor Rama invites public to join the Buhing Kalbaryo on Good Friday In observance of Holy Week, hundreds of employees from the Cebu City government conducted their first-ever Via Crucis or Station of the Cross on the evening of March 26, Holy Tuesday. Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama, together with department heads, started the religious activity in front of the Queen City Garden at 5:30 p.m. The 14 stations of the Cross were mounted along the streets of De Veyra Avenue, General Maxilom Avenue extension, Soriano Avenue and Juan Luna Avenue, all located in the North Reclamation Area. Mayor Rama thanked those who joined the religious activity. He also invited all to participate in the 16th Buhing Kalbaryo tomorrow, Good Friday. It will start at the San Nicolas Church at 10:30 a.m. and the Via Crucis at noon passing through V. Rama Avenue to Guadalupe Church, where the Passion of Christ will be performed at 3 p.m.

Cebu City police implement revamp

By CORRESPONDENT CHITO O. ARAGON


THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) implemented a minor revamp after some police officials were relieved for performing poorly in the anti-illegal gambling campaign. Seven of the 11 police stations in the city were affected. Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., chief of CCPO, said the revamp will also give junior police officials the chance to handle police units or police stations. The homicide section of CCPO is now headed by Insp. Rogelio Cañete. Insp. William Alicaba is the new chief of the theft and robbery section, replacing Chief Insp. Andres Bayarcal. Bayarcal was named the new chief of the Gudalupe police station. Cañete replaced Senior Insp. Errol De Veyra who is now the deputy chief of police station 2. Police station 2 has Chief Insp. Renero Agustin as its new chief. Agustin came from Punta Princesa police station. Chief Insp. Noel Lomente, former chief of Sawang Calero police station, and Senior Insp. Noel Avegonzado, former chief of Carbon police station, traded places. Talamban police station is now headed by Senior Insp. Jose Gesto. Senior Insp. Chuck Barandog is the new chief of Punta Princessa police station while Chief Insp. Michael Angelo Beltran, former chief of the Talamban police, now heads the of Mambaling police station. Chief Insp. Artemio Recabo, previously assigned at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), took over as chief of CCPO’s General Supply and Services. Senior Insp. Bienvenido Miral is headed for the traffic division to replace Supt. Aureo Sanchez, who is set to retire from the service


THE Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) implemented a minor revamp after some police officials were relieved for performing poorly in the anti-illegal gambling campaign. Seven of the 11 police stations in the city were affected. Senior Supt. Mariano Natu-el Jr., chief of CCPO, said the revamp will also give junior police officials the chance to handle police units or police stations. The homicide section of CCPO is now headed by Insp. Rogelio Cañete. Insp. William Alicaba is the new chief of the theft and robbery section, replacing Chief Insp. Andres Bayarcal. Bayarcal was named the new chief of the Gudalupe police station. Cañete replaced Senior Insp. Errol De Veyra who is now the deputy chief of police station 2. Police station 2 has Chief Insp. Renero Agustin as its new chief. Agustin came from Punta Princesa police station. Chief Insp. Noel Lomente, former chief of Sawang Calero police station, and Senior Insp. Noel Avegonzado, former chief of Carbon police station, traded places. Talamban police station is now headed by Senior Insp. Jose Gesto. Senior Insp. Chuck Barandog is the new chief of Punta Princessa police station while Chief Insp. Michael Angelo Beltran, former chief of the Talamban police, now heads the of Mambaling police station. Chief Insp. Artemio Recabo, previously assigned at the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), took over as chief of CCPO’s General Supply and Services. Senior Insp. Bienvenido Miral is headed for the traffic division to replace Supt. Aureo Sanchez, who is set to retire from the service.





Visible hazard signs still needed in 4 Cebu city flyovers

By Marian Z. Codilla, Senior Reporter


A month after a car crashed at dawn on the Banilad-Talamban flyover, its female driver, a former beauty titlist, is still in the hospital in serious condition. After the accident, a gray concrete lane divider was painted with bright yellow and black stripes to alert other drivers who may not notice the hump at the foot of the bridge where the student’s Mazda hatchback hit, causing the car to flip over. With road safety a key concern as more vehicles go on the road for trips during Holy Week, motorists need to keep in mind that Cebu City’s three other flyovers in Tesda, Ayala and Mambaling lack enough hazard signs and visible markings. Starting today, CDN is running here photos of each flyover and the observations of a March 1 safety audit by the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) made after the Feb. 23 crash, a tragedy that resulted in the amputation of the lower leg of culinary student Carina Gajudo, a former Miss Mandaue pageant winner. The riding public is encouraged to share their observations as well by e-mail to siloy98@gmail.com and text “Siloy is Watching” at 0915-5051878. Some action has been taken to correct deficiencies noted by the Citom audit, mainly addressed to the Department of Public and Works and Highways (DPWH) which implemented the flyovers. A week after the Citom inspection report was made, CDN spotted construction workers in orange DPWH uniforms doing work to extend the lane divider at the foot of the Ayala flyover along Gov. Cuenco Avenue in Cebu City. “Regular maintenance on the road/traffic safety devices and upgrading of traffic safety measures should be done,” wrote Citom acting department head Rafael Yap in his report. Meanwhile, Gajudo is still under close observation in the Intensive Care Unit of Perpetual Succor Hospital. Gajudo’s friend and former beauty queen Ana Maris Igpit said she was worried about complications in the victim’s condition and plans to visit the 21-year-old culinary student today. She said mutual friends had told her that Gajudo was about to be discharged, when she suffered a heart attack that sent her to the ICU. Details of her condition were not immediately available. Gajudo and her Japanese boyfriend Junishi Kuribayashi were heading home from a night out with friends in one of the newest bars along Gov. Cuenco Avenue when the mishap occurred about 4 a.m. She was thrown out of the car by the impact while the 19-year-old Japanese student who occupied the passenger seat was able to crawl out later with minor injuries. The lower part of Gajudo’s left leg was detached and was later found in the car. Traffic police have been waiting for Gajudo to recover well enough to narrate what happened on the road. Based on an initial account by the boyfriend, they were heading home to Talamban and had crossed the flyover when Gajudo received a text message on her mobile phone. She decided to turn around to go back to the bar and drove back up the flyover in the Talamban approach. While the Citom safety audit said there was ample street lighting along the length of the Banilad-Talamban flyover, there was no hazard sign at the foot of the structure or reflectorized markings. Before the accident, black and white stripes on the concrete lane dividers at the foot were not visible in the evening. “We hope DPWH responds by implementing some of our recommendations,” Yap told Cebu Daily News earlier. At the Ayala flyover, CDN noted that asphalt humps were removed recently. The concrete lane divider is being extended to guide vehicles to use the lane. Reflectorized studs appear on top of the divider. Work has been going on since last Thursday, a laborer told CDN. A key recommendation in the Citom report was to apply reflectorized hazard paint of yellow and black stripes on the concrete dividers and curved walls, and add hazard signs. Flyovers are implemented by the DPWH as national projects identified by the district congressman. Only the Mambaling flyover has an approach painted with yellow and black stripes. The walls and lane dividers in the other flyovers are plain gray concrete.






Councilors’ league gets P4M

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


THE Barangay Councilors’ League of the Philippines (BCLP) Cebu City received a P4-million financial assistance from Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district).

The amount will cover the organization’s social services, such as extending food assistance (P2 million), livelihood programs (P1 million), and sports activities (P1 million) in the city’s 80 villages.

The sports activities include, among others, basketball, boxing, volleyball, softball, chess and dance sports.

The sports activities are intended to “develop and sustain competitive sports in the barangay level that would enhance unity, cooperation, competitiveness, sportsmanship, and character development, among others,” said BCLP.

“The BCLP Cebu City Chapter believes that without the assistance (from Osmeña), it would prejudice the continuation of initially implemented programs, services and activities of the organization,” said BCLP in a statement.

Source

The P4 million Osmeña gave to BCLP this year forms part of the congressman’s Priority Development Assistance Fund.

The amount that Osmeña gave to the organization is higher compared to the P3 million cash assistance he gave in 2012.

BCLP Secretary Tejero Barangay Councilor Garry Lao said the special allotment release order for the cash aid was released to the organization last March 14.

Release

The amount will be over and above the P3-million financial assistance that the City Government will also be giving to BCLP for 2013.

Lao said the amount from the City has not yet been released since BCLP is yet to liquidate the financial assistance for 2012.





Fire in Cebu damages schoolrooms

By Davinci S. Maru


CEBU CITY – The recognition and graduation rites of the Candulawan Elementary and National High School in Talisay City were briefly disrupted when a fire hit the campus Saturday afternoon.

Ten classrooms were razed but that didn’t stop students from getting their medals and diplomas.

Talisay City Fire Marshal Antonio Ortiz told Sun.Star Cebu they received the alarm at 12:50 p.m. but controlled the flames and kept these from spreading after only 10 minutes.

The blaze was raised to a second alarm and completely put out after one hour by firefighters. Damage to properties was pegged at P500,000.

Because the classrooms were made of wooden materials, Ortiz said, the flames rapidly spread in those first few minutes, preventing the firefighters from saving more of the rooms.

“Hurot gyud siya dayon (The flames wiped those 10 rooms out),” he said.

The flames also hit a nearby two-storey building and damaged it.

Narrow roads leading to the elevated area made it hard for firefighters to penetrate the fire scene. Some fire trucks were stranded below.

No student was injured but a resident suffered cuts after he accidentally stepped on a shard of broken glass while trying to help.

Ortiz said the man was immediately treated by Talisay Rescue Emergency Assistance Team (TREAT) and didn’t need to be brought to a hospital.

Electrical misuse was eyed as a cause of the fire after some people saw flames on the ceiling of one of the burned classrooms.

Three classrooms were occupied by elementary pupils while seven others were for high school students.

The recognition rites were being held when the fire broke out in a cluster of elevated rooms, some 30 meters away from the stage.

“Wala man nagkagubot didto. Maayo lang kay nabantayan dayon (People didn’t panic. It’s a good thing they spotted the flames right away),” Ortiz said.

After the flames were put out, the graduation rites proceeded. During the mass, the priest had to use a megaphone after the power supply was cut as a precaution.

“Kung baga, the show must go on,” Ortiz said.

He said there was a move initiated by school officials before to replace the old classrooms with a three-storey building.

“Perhaps they were still waiting for their budget to be approved,” Ortiz said.

He revealed that the fire department has also recommended for the rehabilitation of the electrical wirings of all schools in Talisay City.

“Mga karaan na kaayo gud. Kuyaw siya especially in highly populated schools such as in Barangay Tabunok and Tanke (These wirings are so old and dangerous, especially in highly populated schools such as those in Barangays Tabunok and Tanke),” Ortiz said.

Before Fire Prevention Month, which is observed every March, the fire department had conducted fire and earthquake drills last August to December to prepare students for any disaster.

“Mao siguro wala na nag-gubot gahapon kay kabawo na sila daan (That probably helped them avoid panic, because they knew what to do),” Ortiz said. (Sun.Star Cebu)

Militant peasants in the heart of Cebu City

By Satur C. Ocampo


For four days this week (March 17-20) more than 200 peasant leaders from all over the country converged in the heart of bustling Cebu City. In their rubber slippers, they practically took over and occupied the gleaming, new Cebu Cultural Center within the University of the Philippines-Cebu campus, which opened in October 2012.

For three days they convened inside the 1,000-seat air-conditioned theater. They ate their meals kamayan style, standing or squatting on the shiny floor of the lobby. Mothers fed their children on the carpeted steps of the stairs leading to the balcony.

Admirable was the self-discipline manifested by these simple people with sunburned faces. They patiently lined up for their meals, then carefully deposited the food scraps, used plastic bags and disposable cups in the designated trash bags.

The occasion was the 7th National Congress of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas. The delegates discussed a wide range of issues affecting not only the peasantry but the whole nation, and drew up a five-year action program. They also shared experiences, both successes and failures, in their struggles.

On the third day, I joined the gathering as one of three speakers in a forum titled, “Surging Forward: the Filipino Peasantry’s Struggle for Genuine Agrarian Reform.” Archbishop Jose T. Palma, president of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines, and acting Cebu Gov. Agnes A. Magpale came to deliver their messages of solidarity.

The forum’s core critique was that government-initiated agrarian reform has already taken more than 40 years, reckoning from Marcos’ Presidential Decree 27 (1972) through Cory Aquino’s 1988 “centerpiece” CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) and its extension, CARPer (2009-2014). Yet it hasn’t resolved the issue of massive landlessness among the peasantry.

Opinion ( Article MRec ), pagematch: 1, sectionmatch: 1 Available official records show that in four decades, the Land Bank of the Philippines has approved P41.6-billion compensation to 83,203 landowners for only 1.3 million hectares. And while the CARPer has a P150-billion budgetary allocation for five years, a bill has already been filed for its further extension beyond 2014.

Both the KMP congress and the conference concluded with the peasants’ firm resolution to press for a genuine agrarian reform program that allows no exemption from coverage and that calls for the free redistribution of land.

I listened keenly to the workshop reports towards the end of the conference, particularly those that pointed out cases of successful struggles in different regions of the country. Let me cite some of them.

• In San Isidro, Kidapawan City, 75 peasant families were able to take possession (through occupation, “bungkalan,” which has been a success in many areas of Luzon and in Negros) of 30 hectares of riceland that had been left idle for 20 years before the absentee owners tried to reclaim it.

However, in 2010, the peasants were forced to mortgage the land to Don Bosco to finance their farming needs, but found to their chagrin that Don Bosco wanted to plant bananas and not rice. Gloria Barce, vice chair of the peasant association Kamasi and head of the women’s section, said they are finding means to redeem the mortgage and regain full control of the land.

• In Caraga, the peasant organizations were able to improve the mode of compensation via crop-sharing of farm workers: for rice, from 1 sack going to them for every 18 sacks produced, it became 1sack for every 15. In coconut farms, the workers’ share was increased from 10% to 22% of the produce.

The Caraga farmers also won an increase in the price of abaca from P18 per kilo to P37, and a significant reduction in interest rate on loans from 26-45% to 12-18%.

• In Mindoro, the farmworkers’ wage has been raised from P80 to P120 per day, plus P10 every succeeding year. Notably, after a long struggle, the women farmworkers won equal wages as their male counterparts.

• In Northern Mindanao, the peasants who had enjoyed a higher wage (P120) than in Mindoro, succeeded in having it raised to P120 with free meals, or P160 without free meals.

On the fourth day, I joined the peasants’ march with supporters, including church people, from Fuente Osmena to downtown Cebu. At an intersection of the busy Colon district, speakers from the regions related their bitter experiences in struggling for land and called for support among the people who cared to listen to them under the hot noonday sun.

The Cebu peasants specifically asked for support in their fight to prevent the “landgrabbing” of the 168-hectare Hacienda Gantuangco in Aloguinsan town — which they have been cultivating as tenants — via plans either to convert it into an economic zone or a mango plantation. 

Extensive conversion of agricultural lands to residential, industrial, commercial, and tourism-related projects have forced landless farming families out of the rural areas to seek livelihood opportunities in the cities.

I cannot help but relate this to an early-morning scene that I came upon at the corner of Jakosalem and Gomez streets. On the sidewalk three families, with five small children, slept on cardboard beddings, as two kids fed three chicks with scrap food.

Could they have been among the peasant families victimized by land conversion?






City to allow coeds outside city to enroll

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


AFTER almost eight years, the Cebu City Government will again allow non-residents of the city to enroll at the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) College of Nursing.

This, after the City Council approved the resolution filed by Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias on the matter.

The passage of Cabarrubias’ resolution was delayed for two weeks, after members of the council questioned the guidelines on the enrollment of non-city residents.

During their regular session last Wednesday, the council decided to approve the resolution after Cabarrubias showed clearer enrollment guidelines from the College of Nursing dean Vicenta Jaluage.

Under the guidelines, a non-resident of the city may be enrolled in the school if he or she will pass the entrance examination.

He or she should also secure an affidavit from a guardian stating that they are related.

The guardian must be a resident of the city and that it is willing to attend meetings that may be called for by the school, the guidelines said.

The guidelines said, though, that city residents will be the priority in the enrollment at the College of Nursing.

“Should the number of resident enrollees within two months prior to the start of classes be less than 100, any qualified non-resident enrollee may be admitted in the college,” the guidelines states.

The non-resident enrollee can start enrolling at the College of Nursing on June.

Sought for comment on the approval of the Cabarrubias’s resolution, Mayor Michael Rama said he favors the move to allow non-residents of the city to enroll at the college.

“Anything that will be good for education, I am for it,” he said.

Cabarrubias had pushed for allowing students from the neighboring cities and municipalities to enroll at the CCMC College of Nursing because its enrollees over the past years have already been decreasing. Its income, too, has reduced.

In 2005, its nursing students reached 467. For 2012, the school’s population has reduced to only 191.

For its income, the school has only earned P7 million in 2012 when it had earned some P10 to P12 million in the previous years.

It was in 2005 when the City issued Resolution No. 05-1674 which only allows residents of the city to enroll at the College of Nursing. The school started operating in 1999.





4 men killed in Cebu shootout

By Davinci S. Maru


CEBU CITY (Updated) -- Four alleged members of a gun-for-hire and illegal drug peddling group were killed in a shootout with policemen during simultaneous raids in Barangay Pulpogan, Consolacion early morning Thursday.

Two others were arrested during the raid.

Their alleged leader eluded arrest, but crime incidents in northern towns will wane now that the group is crippled, a police official said.

Six high-powered firearms, assorted ammunition, three hand grenades, an undetermined quantity of shabu (methamphetamine) and drug paraphernalia were seized when search warrants were served simultaneously in four houses in Sitio Gumamela past 5 a.m.

Superintendent Rodolfo Albotra, head of the Cebu Provincial Police Office’s (CPPO) Provincial Intelligence Branch (PIB), identified the fatalities as Vicente Judaya, Ian Siacol, Jerson Resme and Rene Boy Tariao.

The joint operation conducted by PIB, the Regional Intelligence Division (RID), Regional Anti-Illegal Drugs Task Force (Raidsot) and the Consolacion Police Station stemmed from four search warrants issued by Regional Trial Court (RTC) Central Visayas Branch 56 Judge Teresita Abarquez-Galanida.

The subjects of the warrants were Judaya, Elvira Manlisi, Jerry Bugtay and Francisco Ariva, the alleged leader of the group.

When the police came, Judaya pulled out his firearm and attempted to shoot them. He tried to run away but the policemen caught up with him.

In Ariva’s house just 50 meters away, another team exchanged gunfire with the other suspects.

Siacol, Resma and Tariao were inside the house of Ariva and were hit. They were brought to Eversley Child Sanitarium in Mandaue City but died on the way there.

As police were listing down the confiscated items, Bugtay was seen running away and trying to hide in his sister’s house. He and Manlisi were also caught.

The operatives wore bullet-proof vests during the operation upon learning that they were dealing with armed men.

“No one among us was hurt but the shots were very near,” Albotra said.

He said Ariva’s group engaged in shootouts with the group of a Bebot Pepito as they quarreled over their “territories.”

Pepito eluded arrest during a raid last week but his aide died and seven of his alleged cohorts were arrested.

In an interview Thursday, CPPO Director Patrocinio Comendador said they have been going after Ariva’s group, especially now that it’s election season.

He said they could be used during the May 13 polls to disrupt electoral proceedings.

Pulpogan village chief Roger Linaboc said he was thankful of the police operation as he found the group to be “troublemakers.”

He said he was aware of the group’s illegal activity and reported them to the police.

“Kung sagbot sa katilingban atong hisgutan, mas maayo nga mahunong nani sila. Lipay na kaayo ang mga tawo diri kay wala na sila’y kahadlokan (It’s better that bad elements like them would no longer be able to continue their activities. The residents are happy and said they’re no longer afraid),” Linaboc said.

Nena Pejana, Ariva’s housemaid, said she was shocked when police stormed into her employer’s house.

She described Ariva to be a good person who was willing to help anyone.

Anabelle, Judaya’s wife, said she had told her husband to stop his trade but was ignored.

She said their daughter graduated from elementary yesterday, Thursday, without her father.

Anabelle said her husband repacked shabu inside their house while their children were asleep.

Interviewed by reporters, Bugtay denied his involvement in the group, but he said Ariva was a drug lord. He said he worked as a motorcycle-for-hire driver.

“Midagan ko pag-abot nila kay perte nakong hadluka kay daghan man gud sila (I ran when they arrived. I got so scared because there were many policemen),” he said.

Manlise, on the other hand, said she couldn’t go against Ariva, her live-in partner, because he would threaten to kill her.

Police Regional Office Central Visayas Director Marcelo Garbo Jr. will give awards to the different police teams for neutralizing the criminal group.

“This serves as a message to other groups that we are serious in stopping your illegal activities,” he said. (With Jinky R. Bargio of Sun.Star Cebu)

Maintenance lack seen cause of Cebu tunnel leak

By Doris C. Bongcac


CEBU CITY—A structural engineer recommended regular maintenance work on this city’s first subway tunnel to stop water leaking into it. Ariel dela Cruz, the city’s structural consultant, said water leaking into the tunnel was a result of poor maintenance and waterproofing. The subway tunnel, funded by a P9-billion loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), is the last remaining section of the Cebu South Coastal Road Project, which links Cebu City to Talisay City in the south. The four-lane tunnel is about a kilometer long, which starts from a portion of the South Coastal Road going underneath the historical Plaza Independencia and Fort San Pedro and ending at the corner of Palma Street in downtown Cebu City. In a report after an inspection of the tunnel, Dela Cruz said cracks in the tunnel have to be plugged. His report also said silt should be removed from the tunnel surface. “Maintenance should be considered on a regular basis,” said his report to Mayor Michael Rama. Dela Cruz also recommended an improvement in the tunnel’s waterproofing. Marie Nillama, information officer of the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) in Central Visayas, said motorists should not be alarmed by the leak because it does not affect the tunnel’s structural integrity. Early this March, Rama called the attention of the city engineering department after receiving reports about cracks and water leaks on the tunnel’s walls. DPWH engineers inspected the tunnel on March 5, a day ahead of city engineers. In their report, the DPWH engineers said the water leak came from weep holes at the bottom of the tunnel wall. Weep holes are small openings on the walls that allow water to seep in to prevent it from accumulating inside the walls.






Firms told: Fix Cebu’s flyovers

By (PDF/EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)


CEBU CITY - Mayor Michael Rama wants to tap the private sector in improving the safety features of flyovers in the city.

He brought up the idea after the City Traffic Operations Management (Citom) found in their safety audit that the city’s flyovers pose some danger to motorists.

This, as the mayor said he also wants Citom to make the Cebu South Coastal Road (CSCR) safer.

For the flyovers, Rama said that while their maintenance is under the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH), he wants the help of the private sector so the improvements can be implemented immediately.

“We want to do something on our end (by tapping the private sector) kay maayo ra ba kaayo na mobalibad ang DPWH (especially since DPWH is very good at refusing),” he said in his regular news conference on Monday.

Rama said, though, that the City Government will also do its share if the City has enough resources.

Citom earlier found several defects in the city’s four flyovers – the Banilad flyover located at the junction of Juan Luna Ave. and A.S. Fortuna St., the flyover at the junction of Juan Luna Ave. and Archbishop Reyes Ave., the flyover at the junction of N. Escario St., and the Archbishop Reyes Ave, and the Mambaling flyover in Barangay Mambaling.

Citom said these flyovers have faded reflector paint, no hazard markers, damaged warning signs, and improper lane separators.

To make them safer for road users, Citom recommended using reflectorized paint on the concrete lane barriers, installing road markers, solar-powered linear lights or pointers, and putting up reflectorized warning signs.

The DWPH will investigate the conditions described in the report.

DPWH-Central Visayas Director Ador Canlas instructed Assistant Regional Director Juby Cordon to lead the inquiry and for Cebu City District Engineer Nicomedes Leonor to submit a status report on the flyovers.

Sought for comment on Rama’s pronouncement, Citom executive director lawyer Rafael Yap said he welcomes the move to tap the private sector.

Yap admitted that they have not set aside funds for the improvement of flyovers in their P141-million budget this year, saying the matter is within the jurisdiction of the DPWH.

On Monday, Rama said he will be scheduling a meeting with the private sector and Citom to discuss the matter.

For the CSCR, Rama wants Citom to deploy personnel and vehicles in the area 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They can have three shifts.

They will monitor and ensure the strict implementation of the speed limit in the area of 60 kilometers per hour to prevent vehicular accidents.

“I want them (Citom) to seriously take charge of the matter. I don’t want to hear further reports of accidents,” he said.

Yap had admitted that the CSCR is an accident-prone area, with accidents happening at least once every week. Most of the common causes of the road mishaps are overspeeding and drunk driving.

He said they will comply with the mayor’s order.

However, he said its implementation might be delayed, because while Citom has many vehicles, some have been damaged and are no longer in good running condition.

For now, Yap said they will be focusing on installing traffic warning signs at the CSCR such as speed limit warnings, while waiting for their vehicles to be fixed.

Sun.Star Cebu repeatedly called Engineer Leonor of DPWH, but he had yet to respond as of press time.

As to the observation that a circumferential road remains undone, despite being included in the Metro Cebu Land Use Traffic Study (MCLUTS) three decades ago, Canlas said the DPWH will come in only if funds are allocated for the project.

He said that DPWH constructed and completed the Mandaue Reclamation Raod Project and the Cebu South Coastal Road because these are funded by the agency through the annual General Appropriations Act.

If a project like the Cebu circumferential road is not yet funded, DPWH can do nothing about it.

Canlas, who is attending a meeting in Manila, said he will review all their records at DPWH-Central Visayas in connection with road projects once he returns to Cebu.

The failure to implement the Cebu circumferential road based on the 30-year-old MCLUTS was discovered by Engineer Pedro Adonis Compendio of Spaces System, a Cebu consultancy firm. The firm was commissioned to study traffic for Citom to review, in connection with the proposed IT Park and commercial center on F. Cabahug St., Cebu City.

The study also revealed that constructing road extension, flyovers or adopting the Bus Rapid Transit are considered palliative solutions to the increasing traffic problems in the city. (PDF/EOB/Sun.Star Cebu)





Safety audit exposes deficiencies of Cebu City flyovers

By Tweeny M. Malinao, Correspondent


The four flyovers in Cebu City pose danger to motorists, a safety audit concluded. A report from the Cebu Integrated Traffic Operations Management (Citom) revealed deficiencies in road safety features in the flyovers in Banilad, Tesda, Ayala and Mambaling. Among the hazards found by Citom were faded reflector paints, non-existent hazard markers, warning signs covered with dust and improper construction of lane separators. The safety audit was done after an accident happened in the Banilad flyover that resulted in the amputation of the leg of a Mandaue City beauty queen last month. Citom Executive Director Rafael Yap said that while they can’t qualify the degree of danger posed by the flyovers, they found some inadequacies of the road signs in the city’s flyovers. “The safety-audit was made to note down the defects of the existing flyover,” Yap said. The Cebu City traffic executive said the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) need to address this problem. “We hope that they (DPWH) should respond by implementing some of our recommendations,” said Yap. The recommendations are for safety purposes, explained Yap. “You notice that while some are existing but needs improvement, while some are additions. So those are the items that we wish they (DPWH) should take note of. And correspondingly make the improvement,” Yap said. Citom recommended the painting of concrete separators with reflectorized paint and installation of cat’s eyes or reflective road markers. Citom also recommended the installation of chevron marking after the concrete separator extending up to more or less 30 meters to be enhanced by solar-powered linear lights (pointers) similar to the ones placed on the approach of the Banilad Town Center (BTC). Reflectorized warning signs are also recommended. The “No Passing”of non-motorized vehicles on the flyover needs to be strictly enforced for everyone’s safety, the Citom audit report said. “No Pedestrian Crossing” signs should also be installed on the foot of flyovers. Cebu City has four existing flyovers — the Banilad flyover on the junction of Juan Luna Avenue and A.S. Fortuna Street and the road going to Maria Luisa Park; the Tesda flyover at the junction of Juan Luna Avenue and Archbishop Reyes Avenue; the Ayala flyover at the junction of N. Escario Street and Archbishop Reyes Avenue, and the Mambaling flyover at the junction of N. Bacalso Avenue and Ma. Gochan or N. Bacalso Extension. In the Banilad flyover, Citom cited the hazard posed by the adjustment made on the concrete separator at the approach from Talamban. The Feb. 23 car crash that seriously injured a former Ms. Mandaue beauty titlist Karina Gajudo prompted Citom to initiate a “safety audit” to evaluate the existing traffic safety measures provided if they are effective or adequate enough for the safety of the motorists passing in Banilad flyover and other flyovers in the city in order to avoid another accident. Citom also cited that the “concrete separator was painted but needs to be repainted because it is no longer visible to the motorists.” The installation of solar linear lights (pointer) was cited as a supplement to make the concrete separator more visible. “There is enough street lighting along the whole stretch of the flyover,” it said. A concrete separator is constructed on both ends of the flyover with an extended or additional speed bumps. At the Banilad approach, the hazard paint is no longer visible to motorists. Citom cited that the separator is smeared with dust and dirt, affecting its visibility. The hazard paint is no longer visible and no hazard marker was installed at the Ayala approach of the flyover. Dusty and dirty warning signs were also cited at this particular approach of the flyover, making it not visible in the night. But there’s a sufficient street lighting in the entire stretch of the flyover. Citom cited the installation of concrete separators on both ends of the flyover with an extended speed bump. Although, the hazard marker was installed, they cited the lack of visibility of the hazard paint at the Grand-Con and Ayala Terminal approaches. Street lighting was however found to be sufficient. At Cebu Institute of Technology -University (CIT-U), the hazard paint, hazard marker and concrete separator were installed. Citom also cited the absence of a concrete separator on the Mambaling flyover approach. Instead of a concrete separator, an empty drum painted with reflectorized paint serves as a road warning to motorists. Citom also cited the pedestrian overpass near the foot of the bridge as a hazard to motorists. They said commuters waiting for a ride near the overpass pose a safety risk.. Citom said concerned agencies should also be reminded of their responsibility to regularly maintain road and traffic safety devices and upgrade safety measures.





Cebu City to critics: We enforce new garbage collection policy

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


ALMOST two years since the Cebu City Government implemented the “no segregation, no collection” garbage policy, it has apprehended 6,064 violators.

However, the City Environmental Sanitation Enforcement Team has only filed 647 cases.

“Budgetary constraints and lack of support are what is preventing the present administration from filing more cases,” said Atty. Janesis Ponce, head of the Solid Waste Management Board.

Notice to sue

Mayor Michael Rama earlier proposed a P6.7-billion budget for City Hall’s operation this year, but the City Council only approved P5.19 billion.

Ponce said some violators opt to pay the P500 compromise fine or render community service, while first-time offenders are warned and required to attend seminars.

Ponce’s pronouncements followed after some environmentalists in Metro Cebu issued a notice to sue the City for its alleged failure to implement environmental laws, such as City Ordinance 2031, which mandates the “no segregation and no collection” garbage policy and Republic Act 9003, or the Ecological Solid Waste Management Act.

The notice was penned by seven signatories that included Atty. Gloria Estenzo-Ramos of the Philippine Earth Justice Center and Aaron Pedrosa Jr. of the Freedom from Debt Coalition.

In his seven-page response to the notice to sue, Ponce said it is unfair for environmentalist to issue “sweeping” statements that there is lack of action and implementation of environmental laws.

Ongoing implementation

He said the City has not suspended the implementation of the “no segregation, no collection” policy.

“There are even streamers still in place in our streets that remind people of this policy. People were also made aware that there are penal consequences for those who violate our laws and ordinances regarding garbage. People have been regularly accosted and fined and in some instances even prosecuted,” he said.

“Government can only do so much. It is not a defense for one to dirty our streets and then claim later that it isn’t his fault as the government failed to remind him for the nth time of the law that he has violated,” he added.

Ponce said the P4-billion waste-to-energy (WTE) project earlier proposed by Greenergy Solutions Inc. that was to be implemented at the Inayawan Sanitary Landfill would have helped address the city’s garbage problem, but the environmentalists opposed it.

The project was also supposed to employ scavengers at the landfill.

The environmentalist had opposed the project when the City Council held a public hearing in October last year, saying that it is an incineration plant in disguise.

Even without the WTE, Ponce said the City will continue to implement environmental laws and manage solid waste.









Fire hits Labangon apartment

By Jill B. Tatoy


FIRE hit a three-door apartment on Tres de Abril St., Barangay Labangon, Cebu City, leaving P250,000 worth of property damaged last Thursday evening.

The third-alarm fire was received at 10:05 p.m. and was placed under control after five minutes.

The fire reportedly started in the apartment occupied by a Norma Gabor.

Raul Todiño, owner of the apartment, said that at 10 p.m., he heard three explosions in a neighboring apartment.

He said he turned off the circuit breaker of the apartment to be safe. But he heard another small explosion.

When he checked outside, he saw the apartment unit of Gabor already on fire. Gabor's apartment was destroyed while two other apartment units were damaged.

City Fire Marshall William Tacaldo said they didn't have difficulty arriving at the fire scene because the roads leading to it are wide.

He said the fire is still under investigation. No one was injured nor killed in the incident, he said.

Four hours earlier, a fire also hit a business establishment on M.J. Cuenco Ave. leaving P500,000 worth of properties destroyed.

Alarm

BFP 7 received the alarm from Sitio Lower Lomar, MJ Cuenco Ave. in Barangay T. Padilla at 5:54 p.m. They placed it under control at 6:18 p.m.

The fire destroyed Unisports Tailoring on the building's second floor, and a surplus tire shop at the ground floor. The building was owned by a Endre Reyes.

Tacaldo said the fire reportedly started in the tailoring shop. It is still under investigation. Tacaldo said they had no problem reaching the area as it was along the highway.

But the black smoke from burning tires made it difficult for firemen to breathe, he said.

He said they used some breathing apparatus to penetrate the area.

‘Swertres financier’ survives ambush

By Jill B. Tatoy


WHILE out on bail, a businessman suspected to be funding illegal gambling was shot and wounded inside his brand new BMW car while driving on Gen. Maxilom Ave. in Cebu City late yesterday afternoon.

Edgar Lim, 49, was shot by unidentified men in front of the old White Gold building at 5:45 p.m.

He was shot in the stomach and was rushed to a private hospital in Cebu City. He was still in the operating room as of 9 o’clock last night.

No one else was hurt in the shooting. Lim was driving alone. His fighting cocks, which were on the back seat, also survived the attack.

Lim, identified by the police as the second in the target list of illegal gambling financiers operating for years, is out on bail following his arrest by the City Intelligence Branch (CIB) last month.

He is facing a case for violation of Republic Act 9287, or the Act increasing the penalties for illegal numbers game. Swertres is an illegal numbers game.

Lim reportedly operates in the towns of Cebu and earns about P800,000 to P1 million a day allegedly from the illegal gambling business.

In a phone interview last night, CIB Chief Romeo Santander said that based on their investigation, Lim did not stop his illegal business after posting bail last month.

Based on the initial investigation of the Homicide Section of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), the assailants tailed Lim from the South Road Properties (SRP) tunnel on board a motorcycle.

Just as Lim reached S. Osmeña Blvd., he was cornered by the assailants and was shot with a firearm of an undetermined caliber. The culprits then fled.

Seeing Lim wounded and bloodied, a traffic enforcer sought help from the police, who then rushed the victim to a private hospital.

Santander said they still have to investigate the motive of the shooting.

He said they will not discount the possibility that the attack had something to do with the illegal numbers business.

Lim and 23 of his workers were arrested by the CIB during a raid inside his house on Gen. Maxilom Ave. The operatives served a search warrant issued by the court.

Seized from Lim’s house were gambling paraphernalia such as tally sheets, tip sheets, photocopiers, nine fax machines and calculators. A firearm was also found hidden under a chair.






City examines anemic CCMC nursing enrolment

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


A MOVE to allow the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC) College of Nursing to accept students from neighboring towns and cities is being pushed in the Cebu City Council.

Councilor Roberto Cabarrubias has filed a resolution that, if approved, will let non-residents of Cebu City enroll in the CCMC to make the college more sustainable.

The council, last Dec. 14, 2005, passed Resolution 05-1674, which allows only city residents to enroll in the said school.

But with this set-up, the councilor pointed out, the school’s enrollees continued to decrease in recent years and the school’s income has dropped.

Based on the school’s records, there were 467 enrollees in CCMC’s College of Nursing in 2005. It decreased to 434 in 2006, 418 in 2007, 415 in 2008, 351 in 2009, 307 in 2010, 243 in 2011 and 191 in 2012.

The school generated P5.9 million in 2005. Its income increased to P7.9 million in 2006, P9.9 million in 2007, P10.7 million in 2008, and P12.2 million in 2009, after the City Government implemented a gradual increase of the school’s tuition to first year students.

However, the school’s earnings started to decrease by 2010. That year, they only earned P10.7 million, followed by P9.3 million in 2011 and P7.2 million in 2012.

Other schools, too

Cabarrubias said that Resolution 05-1674 has to be amended so the City’s College of Nursing will not cease to exist.

Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young said, though, that the decrease in the number of nursing students is also being experienced by other colleges and universities.

Young said this is because the Commission on Higher Education has issued a memorandum discouraging students to enroll in nursing, because more graduates of this course still have no jobs.

But Young, who heads the council’s committee on education, said he supports the passage of Cabarrubias’s resolution.

Councilor Jose Daluz III suggested coming up with a guideline to establish who among non-residents will qualify to enroll in the City’s College of Nursing.

Voter’s ID?

Vicenta Jaluague, dean of the school, submitted some proposed guidelines yesterday.

She said non-residents of the city may be allowed to take an entrance exam if they can present a voter’s ID.

The applicant should also submit a notarized affidavit from their relative or guardian, stating their relationship to the applicant and that they are residents of the city and willing to attend school meetings.

Two months before the start of classes, Jaluague proposed, if the enrollment quota for the school is below 100, qualified non-residents of the city may be taken in.

However, Daluz and Councilor Edgardo Labella found the proposed guidelines vague.

Study it: Rama

They said they don’t understand why a voter’s ID is required. They added that “relative” should be defined, whether by affinity or consanguinity.

“A guideline should be clear so that it will be free from any misinterpretation,” said Labella.

Both then suggested to Cabarrubias to defer the approval of his resolution and revise the proposed guidelines.

Sought for comment on the resolution, Mayor Michael Rama said the matter is something that needs to be studied well.

“It can be good or bad, so it will have to be reviewed properly,” he said.

Cargo boat capsizes

By Flor Z.Perolina


CEBU, Philippines - A cargo vessel about to depart for Masbate tilted before it capsized at around 9:46 in the evening last Monday.

M/V Maria Angelica Grace, loaded with hundreds of sacks of rice and sugar including a truck of construction materials and furniture, sank off the Cabahug wharf in Looc, Mandaue City.

It was about to depart at 11:00 p.m. on Monday for Masbate when it tilted to the left due to an uneven arrangement of the trucks. A truck slipped towards the left until it tilted completely and sank face down.

It was also learned that there were five ten-wheelers truck fully loaded with cargoes at the time it capsized.

All 19 crew members, including the boat captain, left the boat a minute before it capsized and no one was reported injured during the incident.

The boat captain, 36-year-oldWilson Dieta of Ilo-Ilo City, admitted that he never expected the weight of one truck loaded with construction materials to make the boat tilt. The driver tried to recover the balance but due to the waves caused by a passing fast craft heading towards Cebu City, the truck slipped until the boat tilted some more and later sank.

The captain took over command of the said boat just last February, but he has been a boat captain of cargo vessels for almost a year now.

M/V Maria Angelica Grace was owned by Rapal Inter-Island shipping based in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila. The boat was bought in South Korea in 1996.

Chief Petty Officer Edilberto Amor of the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Cebu District responded with his team upon a call from Dieta seeking assistance.

Amor and his team went to the area bringing with them the spill booms and immediately spread it around the boat to contain the leaking crude oil.

Captain Dieta said the boat has more than 8,000 liters of crude oil and some 28 tons of fresh water.

“We are looking for a salvor to refloat the ship and have the crude oil siphoned first to avoid more oil leaks,” he said.

Amor advised Dieta to come to their office to file their marine protest, as he also advised the ship captain to immediately find a salvor to avoid more leaks.

Meanwhile, upon learning of the incident, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes visited the area as he wants the oil spill to be contained immediately.

The mayor was glad that Coast Guard Station Commander Weniel Azcuna was quick to dispatch his men and an oil spill boom was already present in the area when he arrived.

Even if the Coast Guard has been doing its best to contain the oil spill, the mayor said that he will still seek the help of big companies such Petron and other oil companies based in the city who has the capability to help contain the oil spill.

Cortes said that he wants an immediate remedy because it will affect the livelihood of fishermen living along the coastal barangays in the city. - /JPM (FREEMAN)






City approved land use plan in 2005

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


CONTRARY to a claim of Vice Mayor Joy Augustus Young, the Cebu City Government already has its own comprehensive land use plan (CLUP), the mayor said yesterday.

Mayor Michael Rama said the CLUP had been approved during the 10th Sanggunian Panlungsod, when he was still a vice mayor. “Na-approve na na. Pataka lang sila ug pasangil (That has been approved. Their accusation is careless),” the mayor said in his regular news conference.

The City Planning and Development Office (CPDO) chief, Engr. Alipio Bacalso, confirmed the CLUP was approved by the City Council in 2005 yet.

A CLUP is a 10-year plan that segregates commercial, industrial and other activities within the city.

Like Rama and Bacalso, former city councilor Jocelyn Pesquera also said the City’s CLUP was already passed.

“I was still a councilor when it was approved,” she said.

Pesquera added that what is lacking now is the amendment of the City’s zoning ordinance, which she said was pending before the office of Councilor Noel Wenceslao.

Wenceslao chairs the council’s committee on urban planning.

Sun.Star Cebu tried to get a statement from Wenceslao but the councilor was not available for comment yesterday.

Match

According to Bacalso, the zoning ordinance needs to be amended so it will jive with the CLUP. He said the City’s zoning ordinance was passed in 1999 yet.

Under the approved CLUP, the City’s total land area of 29,589 hectares is classified into four major districts: the protected zone (14,109 hectares), the peripheral urban land use zone (9,810 hectares), urban land use zone (4,166 hectares), and inner city or urban core (1,504 hectares).

Young earlier blamed the executive department for the City Government’s alleged lack of a CLUP. That discrepancy reportedly barred the City Council from earning a third win in the Department of Interior and Local Government’s (DILG) search for The Most Outstanding Council nationwide.

When sought for comment about the matter, Rama said he expected the council to blame him for their loss.

Why?

“Kanus-a man na wa ko nila pasanginli? Diperensiyado lang gyud sila. Nag-una man sila ug ingon nga makadaug sila gud (When have they ever not blamed me for anything? Something’s wrong with them. The problem is they preempted the announcement of winners),” he said.

Young has said he will ask the DILG for a report on its search for the outstanding council, so they will know why the City lost to the council from Zamboanga City.

Among the accomplishments of a legislative body that DILG earlier considered in naming the outstanding council nationwide were the passage of an appropriation ordinance, zoning ordinance, local tax code, disaster management code, environment code, Annual Investment Program and the CLUP, among others.




City officials pay tribute to Nang Titang

By Christine Emily L. Pantaleon, Correspondent


THE remains of the original Sinug dancer Estelita “Nang Titang” Diola will be laid to rest on March 18, Monday at Mabolo Cemetery, her family and relatives said yesterday. Diola’s family and relatives continued to receive visitors in her wake ranging from incumbent officials like Councilor Margot Osmeña and Councilor Edgar Labella to representatives of the Ramon Aboitiz Foundation Inc. (RAFI) last Saturday. Councilor Osmeña brought hopia (Chinese bean-filled pastry) while Fr. Carmelo Diola and his brother Ronald Diola, former chief of the Cebu City Nutrition Council brought electric fan, coffee and water dispenser for the wake. Diola’s 52-year-old niece Carolina said family members of Val San Diego of the Cebu City-based San Diego dance troupe also visited the wake. The sitio where Diola lived was named Sinulog since 2007. Carolina said she processed “Titang Diola’s” death certificate and was happy with all the help extended to their family. “We were never abandoned. A lot of people sympathized with us. We are so thankful to all of them,” she said. Yesterday also marked the start of the first novena Mass for Nang Titang. At 1 p.m on Monday, March 18, Nang Titang’s remains will be taken to the Mabolo Church for a funeral Mass. Nang Titang passed away last Friday, March 8. She was born on January 4, 1925 and lived a life of devotion through dancing and prayers to the Sto. Niño. At seven years old and onwards, she would offer a dance and prayer to the Sto. Niño every third week of January at the Casa Gorordo. Nang Titang lived with her niece Carolina who cared for her since. Nang Titang was twice hospitalized this year, including treatment for a broken hip sustained after a bad fall. Carolina fondly recalled her last moments with Nang Titang who was confined to her bed with a tube attached to her for feeding. “I went near her bed and I told her ‘You didn’t eat my pancit and so I let her smell the pancit and a fried chicken leg. I sang a birthday song to her and she laughed. She thanked me and asked me never to leave her,” she said in Cebuano. True to her word, Carolina stayed at Nang Titang’s bedside until she breathed her last. Carolina said she and her 41-year-old son Romel will continue her aunt’s legacy and hope to inspire others to do the same.






Lost checks case not moving

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


ALMOST three years after the incident, the Cebu City Government’s investigation on the loss of 28 Philhealth checks amounting to P240,000, which were issued to the Cebu City Medical Center (CMMC), has not kicked off.

The Special Administrative Investigation Committee (Saic), which was tasked by Mayor Michael Rama to investigate CCMC credit officer Lourdes Archua for the missing checks, has not convened.

Archua’s camp opposed several times the composition that the mayor appointed for Saic.

Rama changed the members three times, but its members were continuously questioned by Archua’s legal counsel, lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, because they found them partial.

The first Saic formed by Rama is composed of lawyers from the City who are Carlo Vincent Gimena, Dominic Diño, Ferdinand Cañete and Lecel Llamedo.

However, it was questioned by Archua’s camp, saying they would not get an impartial investigation from them since they act both as prosecutor and judge.

Archua then filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court Branch 58 and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the said lawyers from conducting an administrative hearing.

The court acted favorably on Archua’s petition and ordered the City to change the Saic membership.

The second Saic was composed of Diño, lawyer Mary Ann Suson who was then head of the Human Resource and Development Office, and the mayor’s consultant Engr. Eugene Elizalde and CCMC head nurse Lerma Soledad.

Dalawampu, however, questioned the reappointment of Diño and the presence of Soledad. Soledad’s presence, she said, is questionable, considering that she was formerly under Archua’s supervision.

The third Saic was composed of Suson, Elizalde and lawyer Evangeline Abatayo of the Civil Registrar’s Office.

But the same was questioned by Archua’s camp.

Membership

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez said the Saic never convened, even once, to investigate the missing checks because of Archua’s questioning of the investigating panel’s membership.

This was confirmed by Elizalde.

“The case would have long been resolved had they allowed Saic to proceed with the investigation,” Elizalde told Sun.Star Cebu in a separate interview.

Bernaldez said it will now be up to Archua to make a follow- up on the pending investigation and ask the mayor to create a new investigating panel.

Bernaldez said he was informed that Archua will soon be retiring. Elizalde also received the same information.

“She will not be cleared or will receive any retirement benefits if the case will not be resolved. Siya gyuy dapat mangusog ana (She should push for it),” he said.

Comment

Sun.Star Cebu tried to ask CCMC Chief Dr. Gloria Duterte on the employment status of Archua, but she was not available for comment yesterday.

Archua, who is credit officer IV of CCMC’s Business and Finance Department, released Philhealth checks to an alleged swindler last May 4, 2010.

Nine out of the 28 checks amounting to P114,839.25 have been cashed.

The remaining 19 checks were not after these were covered by a “stop payment” order, which the Philhealth filed before the Land Bank of the Philippines after hospital officials reported the missing checks.





Tomas defends Bigfoot's lease of 2-hectare property at SRP

By Jujemay G. Awit


BIGFOOT Global Solutions is paying rent to the Cebu City Government for the use of a two-hectare lot at the South Road Properties (SRP) so what is Mayor Michael Rama's problem?

This was the question raised by Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south district) on Rama's proposal to review the lease contract of Bigfoot at the SRP.

"He's (Rama's) trying to pin it on (Bigfoot president Michael) Gleissner... Whatever he wants he could review if for all I care but Bigfoot is paying rent and Gleissner doesn't own Bigfoot," Osmeña said in his regular Friday press conference.

He said the City was having fiscal problems in 2007, when Gleissner offered a five-year advance on the lease.

Bigfoot is leasing the property for P5 million a year for 25 years.

More questions

Rama had also questioned the rate Osmeña gave Bigfoot, which is $.40 cents per square meter. He described it as too low.

"It was the going rate at that time. Remember there was no SM (Prime Holdings) and Filinvest (Land Inc.) yet," Osmeña said.

Rama had also said there is no movement in the Bigfoot building at the SRP.

He said a development should attract other developments.

Osmeña explained that there is no stipulation in the lease contract that this would be part of Bigfoot's role at the SRP.

"He (Rama) has not brought in a single investment in Cebu so what is he talking about?" the congressman said.

Not worried

He said he believes the Bigfoot building at the SRP, which is supposed to be a sound stage facility, is not operational because of the current global economic crisis.

In a related development, Osmeña said he is not worried about the leak at the SRP tunnel, citing he trusts the tunnel's structural integrity.

He said the layer on top of the tunnel is thin.

Osmeña said the City is running out of money, which is why it needs the payment of Filinvest.

The City is yet to receive the annual payment from the real estate company for the 10.6-hectare property it is developing at the SRP.





Officers face raps for demolition

By Gerome M. Dalipe and Jujemay G. Awit


A DAMAGE suit has been filed against a Cebu City Hall official and several other barangay officials for demolishing two houses in Barangay Pulangbato allegedly without legal basis.

Petitioner Jorge Miñoza filed the civil case for damages, injunction with prayer for issuance of a preliminary mandatory injunction against Racquel Bohol-Arce, chief of the Squatters Prevention, Elimination, Encroachment Division (Speed) in Cebu City; Pulangbato Barangay Capt. Maria Valesquez and other village officials.

Miñoza, through his lawyer, Salvador Solima, asked the court to order the defendants to jointly pay him P600,000 as actual damages; P200,000 as moral damages; P75,000 as attorney’s fees; and P20,000 as litigation expenses.

In his complaint, Miñoza said he owns Lot 11432, which is composed of 1,933 sq.m. in Barangay Pulangbato, where he built two houses.

Without order

Recently, Miñoza said the defendants began demolishing his houses without any court order. He said they have been occupying the property for more than 50 years.

Due to defendants’ “unlawful and illegal acts, Miñoza said he suffered “mental torture, anguish, sleepless nights, and untold worries.”

The petitioner also asked the court to issue an order stopping the defendants from further demolishing the remaining house.

Hurt

Meanwhile, Arce admitted she was hurt by the complaint.

She said she had a dialog with Miñoza and other owners of the structures.

The area is owned by the Cebu City Government and Mayor Michael Rama wants to put up a daycare center in the area.

There were three structures inside the City Government lot. Two were already demolished by Probe, as instructed by Rama.

One is in the process of negotiation.

“I was hurt by the complaint because we are still in the process of the negotiation. I tried listening to them, but they had no documents to show me,” said Arce.

Arce said she received notice of summon on the complaint last Wednesday.

She said the proper procedure was followed before the demolition. The Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW) was made to conduct a survey to identify the boundaries of the City-owned lots.

Documentation of the day care project was also forwarded to the City Legal Office to make sure the papers are in order.

The owners of the three structures inside the City property were notified. Demolition was done 15 days later, the last five days were already leeway for owners of the illegal structures.

Arce said that in those 15 days, the owners never came forward with documents that could have stopped the demolition. They also failed to get a temporary restraining order from the court.

The structures are sari-sari stores.

“I was ordered by the mayor to clear the area for a project that will be beneficial to many,” Arce told Sun.Star Cebu.

Arce said she forwarded the copy of the complaint and summon to the City Legal Office for appropriate action.






DPWH bares details

By Elias O. Baquero


THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) yesterday said the P180-million widening of the junction of MJ Cuenco Ave. and Gen. Maxilom Ave., Cebu City includes the drainage and payment of road-right-of-way (RROW).

The project profile sent to Sun.Star Cebu by DPWH 7 Regional Director Ador Canlas and Assistant and Assistant Regional Director Juby Cordon shows that of the P180 million, over P143.8 million will be for payment of RROW, P33.9 million for civil works and P2.250 million for engineering overhead.

The scope of work includes the widening of the road to 12.4 meters and a length of 541.59 m.; asphalt paving of widened road at four inches in thickness; asphalt overlay of existing road at two inches thickness; upgrading of drainage lines; construction of sidewalk, curb and gutter; and lane line markings.

The project is contracted by WTG Construction, which started it last Oct. 5, 2012 and is expected to finish it by July 2, 2013 or a duration of 240 calendar days.

However, the DPWH 7 reported that only 25 percent of the project has been done, which corresponds to the asphalt overlay of the existing pavement, but the project is suspended due to RROW problem.

DPWH acknowledged the following issues and concerns; 1) That the original alignment was changed because of the demands of the residents that an equal width shall be taken from both sides; 2) That another change was made due to disapproval of the National Historical Institute to partially remove an old residential house.

Because of the changes in the alignment, the DPWH conducted again a parcellary survey to determine the affected lots and structures.

Cordon said the revised parcellary survey has been completed.

They said the assessment of the affected lots and structures will be requested from the Cebu City Assessor’s Office. Negotiation will follow as soon as the office has secured the assessed values of properties.

Lost checks case not moving

By Princess Dawn H. Felicitas


ALMOST three years after the incident, the Cebu City Government’s investigation on the loss of 28 Philhealth checks amounting to P240,000, which were issued to the Cebu City Medical Center (CMMC), has not kicked off.

The Special Administrative Investigation Committee (Saic), which was tasked by Mayor Michael Rama to investigate CCMC credit officer Lourdes Archua for the missing checks, has not convened.

Archua’s camp opposed several times the composition that the mayor appointed for Saic.

Rama changed the members three times, but its members were continuously questioned by Archua’s legal counsel, lawyer Gloria Lastimosa-Dalawampu, because they found them partial.

The first Saic formed by Rama is composed of lawyers from the City who are Carlo Vincent Gimena, Dominic Diño, Ferdinand Cañete and Lecel Llamedo.

However, it was questioned by Archua’s camp, saying they would not get an impartial investigation from them since they act both as prosecutor and judge.

Archua then filed a petition before the Regional Trial Court Branch 58 and sought a temporary restraining order and preliminary injunction to stop the said lawyers from conducting an administrative hearing.

The court acted favorably on Archua’s petition and ordered the City to change the Saic membership.

The second Saic was composed of Diño, lawyer Mary Ann Suson who was then head of the Human Resource and Development Office, and the mayor’s consultant Engr. Eugene Elizalde and CCMC head nurse Lerma Soledad.

Dalawampu, however, questioned the reappointment of Diño and the presence of Soledad. Soledad’s presence, she said, is questionable, considering that she was formerly under Archua’s supervision.

The third Saic was composed of Suson, Elizalde and lawyer Evangeline Abatayo of the Civil Registrar’s Office.

But the same was questioned by Archua’s camp.

Membership

In an interview with Sun.Star Cebu, City Legal Officer Joseph Bernaldez said the Saic never convened, even once, to investigate the missing checks because of Archua’s questioning of the investigating panel’s membership.

This was confirmed by Elizalde.

“The case would have long been resolved had they allowed Saic to proceed with the investigation,” Elizalde told Sun.Star Cebu in a separate interview.

Bernaldez said it will now be up to Archua to make a follow- up on the pending investigation and ask the mayor to create a new investigating panel.

Bernaldez said he was informed that Archua will soon be retiring. Elizalde also received the same information.

“She will not be cleared or will receive any retirement benefits if the case will not be resolved. Siya gyuy dapat mangusog ana (She should push for it),” he said.

Comment

Sun.Star Cebu tried to ask CCMC Chief Dr. Gloria Duterte on the employment status of Archua, but she was not available for comment yesterday.

Archua, who is credit officer IV of CCMC’s Business and Finance Department, released Philhealth checks to an alleged swindler last May 4, 2010.

Nine out of the 28 checks amounting to P114,839.25 have been cashed.

The remaining 19 checks were not after these were covered by a “stop payment” order, which the Philhealth filed before the Land Bank of the Philippines after hospital officials reported the missing checks.






DPWH bares details

By Elias O. Baquero


THE Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) yesterday said the P180-million widening of the junction of MJ Cuenco Ave. and Gen. Maxilom Ave., Cebu City includes the drainage and payment of road-right-of-way (RROW).

The project profile sent to Sun.Star Cebu by DPWH 7 Regional Director Ador Canlas and Assistant and Assistant Regional Director Juby Cordon shows that of the P180 million, over P143.8 million will be for payment of RROW, P33.9 million for civil works and P2.250 million for engineering overhead.

The scope of work includes the widening of the road to 12.4 meters and a length of 541.59 m.; asphalt paving of widened road at four inches in thickness; asphalt overlay of existing road at two inches thickness; upgrading of drainage lines; construction of sidewalk, curb and gutter; and lane line markings.

The project is contracted by WTG Construction, which started it last Oct. 5, 2012 and is expected to finish it by July 2, 2013 or a duration of 240 calendar days.

However, the DPWH 7 reported that only 25 percent of the project has been done, which corresponds to the asphalt overlay of the existing pavement, but the project is suspended due to RROW problem.

DPWH acknowledged the following issues and concerns; 1) That the original alignment was changed because of the demands of the residents that an equal width shall be taken from both sides; 2) That another change was made due to disapproval of the National Historical Institute to partially remove an old residential house.

Because of the changes in the alignment, the DPWH conducted again a parcellary survey to determine the affected lots and structures.

Cordon said the revised parcellary survey has been completed.

They said the assessment of the affected lots and structures will be requested from the Cebu City Assessor’s Office. Negotiation will follow as soon as the office has secured the assessed values of properties.

Rama wants SRP tunnel checked

By Elias O. Baquero and Jujemay G. Awit


IS the South Road Properties (SRP) tunnel leaking? Mayor Michael Rama wants it checked.

He told reporters yesterday that an individual who saw first-hand a leak on the side of the tunnel, informed him.

Sun.Star Cebu informed the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) 7 about the mayor’s pronouncement and the agency immediately sent a team to inspect the tunnel.

The leak is nothing alarming.

A team from the planning and design division of the DPWH 7 was composed of Engrs.

Mario Montejo, Joshua Monsanto, Waltham Obenario and Larry Villegas.

“The reported leakage was due to the accumulated water coming from the weep holes located at the bottom end section of the wall near and adjacent to the sidewalk,” the team’s report read.

Water overflowed from the clogged and silted drain on the sidewalk, it added.

The weep holes are there as a measure to catch water seepage.

“It is recommended to clean and unclog the drainage and weep holes immediately in order to drain off the water properly. This problem is not serious and nothing to be alarmed of,” the team’s report concluded.

Pictures of the “leaking” area were attached to the report. There was a picture showing a silted waterway where the water from the weep hole flows. This was taken on the sidewalk of the tunnel. There were also pictures taken from different angles.

Rama would have wanted to inspect the area himself yesterday after his regular press conference but said some coordination was needed with the Cebu City Traffic Operations Management (Citom).

“I wish DPWH would have done also its share,” Rama said.

DPWH 7 did.

Rama will also ask Cebu City’s structural engineer to check on the matter. He said he will summon the DPWH 7, Department of Engineering and Public Works (DEPW), Citom, South Road Properties (SRP) Management Office and City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete on the matter.

Barangay San Roque Captain Rogelio Ruizo also wants to check on the leak as the tunnel is located in his barangay. Last night was the first time he heard of such a thing, but he said he would check on it today.

Barangay Captain Pancho Ramirez of neighboring San Antonio said he was told last week that motorists heard an explosion inside the tunnel. Traffic was stopped but there was no collision or busted tire in the vicinity.

No leak was mentioned.

DPWH 7 Assistant Regional Director Juby Cordon confirmed that Engineer Montejo, officer-in-charge of the planning and design division, conferred with an agency consultant about the reported leak.

Comelec posts list of voters

By Jujemay G. Awit


THE Commission on Elections (Comelec) has posted its certified list of voters as required by Resolution 9634, 10 weeks before the May elections.

In Cebu City, over half a million voters are registered.

The south district’s voters outnumber those in the north by more than 51,000, even if there are more barangays in the north (46) than in the south (34).

There are 248,292 registered voters of the north district and 299,389 voters of the south district.

The south has 1,720 established precincts and 321 clustered precincts while the north district has 271 clustered precincts and 1,359 established precincts.

Comelec Cebu City North District Election Officer Marchel Sarno said the noted political groups in Cebu City have been given notices about the official lists of voters posted at the Comelec.

These political groups are Kugi Uswag Sugbo (Kusug), Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK) and Team Rama.

Of the three, only Kusug is an official party but Sarno said BOPK and Team Rama have been recognized as dominant political groups in Cebu City.

Congressional candidate for the north district Florencio Villarin, a former regional director of the National Bureau of Investigation, went to the Comelec to seek a copy of the voters list. He received it.

In Resolution 9634, the Comelec said the certified list of voters was supposed to have been posted last Feb. 12, but because they still had to complete their supplies, this was postponed to Feb. 28.

The next activity for Comelec is the training of the members of the board of election inspectors (BEIs).

Around 1,500 teachers will undergo a seminar on the conduct of the elections starting this Friday until March 27.

The seminar will be done by group.

It will be conducted by Comelec in conjunction with the Department of Science and Technology (DOST).

Sarno explained that every BEI should have at least one DOST-certified member.

The certification will be on the actual handling of the Precinct Count Optical Scan (PCOS) machine.

The seminar will include an examination and hands-on training on the use of the PCOS machine. DOST personnel will rate actual handling of PCOS machines.

KUSUG endorses Rama, 3 others

By Jessa Chrisna and Marie Agua


CEBU, Philippines - Local political party, Kugi Uswag Sugbo (KUSUG), yesterday endorsed reelectionist Mayor Michael Rama and three of his teammates.

KUSUG officials made the official endorsement during the party convention. The other candidates that KUSUG will be supporting in the coming May 13 elections are Councilor Edgardo Labella, Rama’s runningmate, and congressional candidates Aristotle Batuhan, for the south district, and talent manager Annabelle Rama for the north district.

Lawyer Raymond Garcia, party president, said a complete list of candidates to be supported by them will be revealed soon in a much bigger convention before the local campaign period starts on March 29.

The party was supposed to announce five names of candidates for councilor in the north and another five in the south during the convention yesterday but did not materialize. 

“Sukwahi sa akong giingon sa interview nga we will support five candidates for the north and five candidates for the south, wala na siya na-materialize (What I said, during interview that we will support five candidates for the north and five for the south, did not materialize),” Garcia told reporters saying that the “democratic ways of the party” prevailed.

He clarified though that his earlier statement was a “personal opinion”. As the party president, he is bound to respect the decision of the majority.

“But you see, we’re still how many days until the official campaign period which will start after Holy Week pa man di ba. So we are planning an even bigger convention to call on our leaders maybe in a form na si-guro of a rally wherein we will announce already all the candidates including senators and councilors. Sa pagkakaron, I hope it is clear to everybody nga we are endorsing just the four,” Garcia said.

He also clarified that KUSUG and Team Rama are not forming an alliance against the Bando Osmeña Pundok Kauswagan (BOPK). 

“No, not a coalition. It just so happened to be nga ang among gi-endorse karon belonged to Team Rama. Because if it were a coalition, we would have endorsed all 16 candidates,” he explained.

Garcia’s party earlier said that their list of candidates to be supported is a mixture of the Team Rama and BOPK.

In fact, KUSUG has members running under the slate of BOPK headed by South District Rep. Tomas Osmeña. One of them is Cogon Pardo Barangay Captain Jun Gabuya.

“As far as our record show, he is still a member of KUSUG. He has not tendered his resignation to the party as of the moment. And so far in all his speeches in front of BOPK supporters and members, makadungog man ta nga he’s been saying that he’s still a member of the KUSUG political party,” Garcia said.

He said Gabuya went to BOPK “because he is not a supporter of Mike Rama.”

Osmeña called yesterday’s gathering of KUSUG as a mere “publicity stunt.”

“Gabuya is a sure winner. The rest are losers. There will be no defections from BOPK because they were all BOPK rejects. But any of these candidates always has a chance to win but it’s not so good to bet on it,” Osmeña said in a text message sent to The FREEMAN.

Osmeña’s reaction, however, was already expected by KUSUG. Garcia said KUSUG expected that their endorsement will not be taken seriously by BOPK and Osmeña.

“He will always belittle the pwersa of KUSUG. But you cannot belittle the pwersa sa KUSUG kay sa niaging piniliay sa 2010, Alvin Garcia garnered over 100,000 votes against Mike Rama… Inigpanawag nato sa atong mga supporters, sigurado naa gihapon sila ug magpabilin gihapon. I hope that this (endorsement) will translate into votes for Mike Rama,” he said.

KUSUG president emeritus and former Cebu City mayor Alvin Garcia vowed to work as consultant for Rama if the latter gets reelected. The former mayor wants to help Rama implement the projects that were stopped by Osmeña.

“I promise that if Mike Rama wins the elections, I will voluntarily work for the city government. No pay, Mike. Only one peso a year,” the former mayor said in jest.—/FPL (FREEMAN)

Cebu City officials warned on use of Supplemental Budget 2

By Jujemay G. Awit


A THIRD bridge would be more expensive than the proposed P10-billion Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system, Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south) said.

Osmeña criticized the suggestion of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama for a third bridge, which has been included in the Regional Development Council (RDC) list of projects.

He said, if the BRT system was shut down at the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) board because of its cost, how much more the third bridge?

Osmeña said a proposed third bridge would cost between P15 billion and P20 billion.

Osmeña's suggestion to improve traffic in Cebu is a roll-on roll-off (roro) port at Shell Island in Cordova, which would dock at the Malacañg sa Sugbo, Compania Maritima or Pier 1 and then vice versa.

But Rama said, "When typhoon comes, roro would have to be stopped."

Rama said a roro is more for tourism than for means of public transportation.

Rama said he was no longer surprised with Osmeña's statement because the congressman has never agreed with any of his suggestions and that the congressman believes he has monopoly of brilliance.

Osmeña questioned Rama's statement that a bridge linking Cordova and Cebu City was first brought to the table in 1992 because at that time, there was no South Road Properties (SRP).

The proposed bridge was supposed to be at the SRP.

There was no need for SRP's existence when the bridge was proposed in the early 1990s, said Rama, because a reclamation can be integrated in the entire project.

The BRT, Osmeña's pet project, failed to get approval from Neda board because there were questions about the system. However, Cebu City is not prevented from seeking approval from the board again.

Osmeña said the BRT will help solve the traffic problem in the entire Metro Cebu.

His idea includes a BRT system from the SRP to the airport, one inside the SRP and another in Cebu City, which is being pushed by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

SM is even willing to fund the BRT inside the SRP. SM Prime Holdings Inc. is a locator at the SRP.

Osmeña said he was a party to the inclusion of the Marcelo Fernan bridge as among the priority projects of the country during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

It was his cousin, former governor Lito Osmeña, who managed to convince the Neda head to include a second bridge that would link Mactan Island and mainland Cebu in the short list of priority projects of the National Government.

But the congressman said he flew to Japan to talk to the head of Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) to fund the second bridge despite not having a feasibility study.

This is why Osmeña knew there was no bridge proposal linking Cordova and Cebu City in 1992.

Osmeña said a bridge would need a very high inclination considering that some vessels are as large as a 10-story building.

But Rama said an undersea tunnel, as proposed by former congressman Raul del Mar and Rep. Rachel Marguerite del Mar (Cebu City, north), would also mean that the structure have to be about 50-feet below because of the large vessels that would pass through.

Third bridge more expensive than BRT

By Jujemay G. Awit


A THIRD bridge would be more expensive than the proposed P10-billion Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) system, Rep. Tomas Osmeña (Cebu City, south) said.

Osmeña criticized the suggestion of Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama for a third bridge, which has been included in the Regional Development Council (RDC) list of projects.

He said, if the BRT system was shut down at the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) board because of its cost, how much more the third bridge?

Osmeña said a proposed third bridge would cost between P15 billion and P20 billion.

Osmeña's suggestion to improve traffic in Cebu is a roll-on roll-off (roro) port at Shell Island in Cordova, which would dock at the Malacañg sa Sugbo, Compania Maritima or Pier 1 and then vice versa.

But Rama said, "When typhoon comes, roro would have to be stopped."

Rama said a roro is more for tourism than for means of public transportation.

Rama said he was no longer surprised with Osmeña's statement because the congressman has never agreed with any of his suggestions and that the congressman believes he has monopoly of brilliance.

Osmeña questioned Rama's statement that a bridge linking Cordova and Cebu City was first brought to the table in 1992 because at that time, there was no South Road Properties (SRP).

The proposed bridge was supposed to be at the SRP.

There was no need for SRP's existence when the bridge was proposed in the early 1990s, said Rama, because a reclamation can be integrated in the entire project.

The BRT, Osmeña's pet project, failed to get approval from Neda board because there were questions about the system. However, Cebu City is not prevented from seeking approval from the board again.

Osmeña said the BRT will help solve the traffic problem in the entire Metro Cebu.

His idea includes a BRT system from the SRP to the airport, one inside the SRP and another in Cebu City, which is being pushed by the Department of Transportation and Communication (DOTC).

SM is even willing to fund the BRT inside the SRP. SM Prime Holdings Inc. is a locator at the SRP.

Osmeña said he was a party to the inclusion of the Marcelo Fernan bridge as among the priority projects of the country during the administration of the late President Corazon Aquino.

It was his cousin, former governor Lito Osmeña, who managed to convince the Neda head to include a second bridge that would link Mactan Island and mainland Cebu in the short list of priority projects of the National Government.

But the congressman said he flew to Japan to talk to the head of Overseas Economic Cooperation Fund (OECF) to fund the second bridge despite not having a feasibility study.

This is why Osmeña knew there was no bridge proposal linking Cordova and Cebu City in 1992.

Osmeña said a bridge would need a very high inclination considering that some vessels are as large as a 10-story building.

But Rama said an undersea tunnel, as proposed by former congressman Raul del Mar and Rep. Rachel Marguerite del Mar (Cebu City, north), would also mean that the structure have to be about 50-feet below because of the large vessels that would pass through.

City Hall tries to beat ban on infrastructure projects

By Jujemay G. Awit


CEBU City Mayor Michael Rama wants the construction of the Carbon Market to start soon to avoid the election infrastructure ban, which will begin on March 29.

“I want it to be done faster with the hope of being able to make the necessary exemptions,” Rama said in his regular press conference yesterday.

The Cebu City Government conducted the pre-bidding for the Unit 2 Carbon Market construction project last week.

This, after Rama ended City Hall’s contract with Young Builders Corp. (YBC) over delays in the market’s construction.

Bidding

City Administrator Jose Marie Poblete said interested bidders make clarification on the work to be done during the pre-bidding.

The bidding is scheduled on March 6.

Although its contract with City Hall was terminated, YBC can still bid for the same project.

If all goes well, Poblete is confident the construction of Carbon Market will beat the election ban.

If the bidding is done on March 6, the notice of award to the winning bidder can be given in a week's time.

If all requirements are complied with, construction can begin before the election ban.

If not, Rama said, he can request for exemption from the Commission on Elections as the project is part of City Hall’s services.

The mayor, who will seek reelection in the May 13 elections, considers the Carbon

Market among the priorities of his administration.

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