By Erik Espina
I RECALL the time when my father was in his second term as Cebu governor when he would marvel at “what could have been,” had the roads constructed fronting the capitol approach, made four lanes each, on both sides of the island.
This would have afforded the public and tourists a breath-taking vista of the dome with an un-obstructed view of the entire edifice from Fuente Osmeña Circle. I could relate to such vision cum dismay, having seen pictures of the US Congress Building at an impressionable age. Unfortunately, profit to be made from sold prime real-estate, took front seat over a sense of reverence, preserving the awe-inspiring sight of the entire “government cathedral,” identifiable from a distance.
There must be a co-relation between pocket-interest vs. public interest? Why public officials are malleable to big business? Is there an SOP (Standard Operating Procedure) for political executives? Local legislators ready to jump into circus hoops, like brokers expecting a commission. The wisdom, or lack of it, in what Urban Planner Felino Palafox Jr. dubs the “ugly-fication” of our urban centers, is not just the absence of urban planning, proper zoning, and land-use policy, but the problem of law enforcement, environmental short cuts, relaxed administrative over-sight for new constructions etc. which leads to business models supplanting the responsibility of our leaders charged with public service, public order, and the public’s convenience.
Of recent, there is a plan to build a 20-story modern building just 40 feet away from the Cebu capitol. The loan for construction is R1.5 billion. Talk about defacing a historical landmark – dwarfing it – with possible violations of heritage laws with-in the compound? The new building will house provincial services including private/commercial offices. Imagine private vehicular traffic/volume? Lack of parking lots? Congestion, tenants with customers for private transactions in a government building. The province has other properties four to five hectares in the city which could be the better area for this purpose. So why, oh why?
